Ashwinder
by Ghost.InTheSystem
Summary: They were outsiders, and friends against odds and social expectations. In a world still recovering from war, hatreds of the past remain. While whispers of Dark Magic haunt the air, a scared nation sees no one to blame but children of Death Eaters…
1. Apologies

**Ashwinder**

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_Disclaimer: all of this ultimately belongs to J.K. Rowling (characters, setting, the world, basically everything you recognise). The plot, the writing – that's mine. No stealing. I have a man eating giant bunny on loan to track you down and gobble you. You have been warned._

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Rose Weasley has always been the outsider. The one Ravenclaw in a family of Gryffindors, the one voiceless in a family of warriors. He was the same, determined to not be his father, but still placed in Slytherin, the one more at home with his eyes at the sky than taunting another.

Outsiders both, but unlikely friends.

In a world still recovering from a disastrous war, the resentment of generations past still remain. Whispers of Dark Magic linger in the air, and an increasingly scared nation sees no one to blame but the reformed Death Eaters and their children….

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Chapter One. Apologies

"Rose, if you wouldn't mind, could you make sure Hugo does his transfiguration homework?" Her mother asked as she hovered by the fire, her hand in the flowerpot above the fireplace. Her father rolled his eyes at her mother's anxious expression, taking a pinch of the Floo powder and throwing it into the fire.

"Don't worry 'Mione," he told her patiently, stepping into the now vibrant emerald green flames. "I'm sure Hugo and Rose will be just fine. If they run into any trouble, James will be there, and Neville isn't far away." He kissed her swiftly on the cheek and waved goodbye to his eldest child, closing his eyes and tucking in his elbows. "Behave yourself Rose. The Ministry of Magic!" He announced, and with a great rush of the fire, Rose's father disappeared. Hermione Weasley still hovered by the fire, teetering on the edge of leaving and giving one last command.

"It's okay Mum!" Rose soothed her, "Honestly, we'll be fine! It's not like we've never been to Diagon Alley before. Just because neither you nor Uncle Harry is going to be there, doesn't mean the whole world is going to become the Forbidden Forest." Rose smiled softly, propelling her mother into the fire. Hermione sighed, and nodded.

"Make sure Hugo doesn't go in Knockturn Alley then," she said finally, reconciled at last to the situation. "And give the parcel on the shelf to Neville now, it's from Grandmother Weasley. And make sure Hugo gets up before your cousins arrive. Merlin knows, James and Louis would have in Diagon Alley with his pyjamas still on given half a chance." Hermione looked almost despairingly up at the second floor of the house, where Hugo slept on. "Ministry of Magic." She announced to the flames, and much like Rose's father, her mother was gone in a roar and rush of flame and sound.

Still in her nightgown, Rose glanced at the clock that rested upon the mantelpiece, checking the time. It was still too early for any of her cousins to be awake, let alone organised to come to the Weasley country house that morning for their trip to Diagon Alley. Resigning herself to at least a few hours of relative boredom, Rose left the sitting room to return to her room, her eyes catching on the daily displays of magic within her own house. In her mother's study, books marked their pages and ordered themselves upon the bookshelves, while the laundry sorted and washed itself. In her father's private room, the Muggle police radio was on, and a quill scratched out a copy of any calls of interest. Rose had long grown used to the daily merging of magic and mundane, of Muggle and wizard, to be surprised by any of the tricks her parent's main country home seemed to have.

As she walked past Hugo's closed door and into her own bedroom, Rose was tempted to simply ignore what her parents had asked and sleep the day out. The outings with her cousins were never truly fun experiences for Rose. They took after their parents much more than she did – they had all inherited the Gryffindor spirit, while she simply had her mother's prodigious talent in magic, which was hardly a fair trade. More than that, she hated the way they were always stopped and asked how their parents were, and how every man and woman seemed to have a story to give them about their heroic parents. Or when their parents were there, the way they were stopped every five metres for a conversation about incidents long past. Even when she was without her parents, it seemed to Rose that she could not escape the shadow of their deeds. _Heroic_ deeds at that, deeds that had led to the downfall of the most dangerous Dark wizard of all time, and the rebuilding of the Ministry of Magic.

A rap on her window alerted Rose to the presence of a sleek, tawny owl. Opening her window for the owl, Rose smiled as she recognised it. Emrys held out a leg, allowing Rose to untie the letter before nipping her gently as she offered it a treat from her own sleeping owl's tray. Emrys took the treat and flew back to the sill, waiting patiently for Rose's own reply. Sitting down on her bed, Rose opened the letter, unreasonably anxious for the words that came not from a cousin or sibling, or adoptive family, but from a friend.

_Rosie_, he began in neat elegant script.

_Thank you for writing. I thought after our fight that you might not have wanted to. That's how everyone else always acts. But not you. Never you. Thank my stars that I have you as a friend._

_How are your holidays? Mine are okay – Mother and Father are fighting again. I'm so sick of it, of the yelling and curses and all. And, sure, they love each other, but all them ever seem to do is fight about the same things. He doesn't love her enough, he's working too much, does he even know his son, blah, blah, blah…. Then Father yells back retaliation while I'm in the next room trying to figure out what I should say to you. That's why this letter took so long. Not because I was ignoring you, Merlin no, but because I can't figure out what to put down. Even now, I can't. The right words just aren't coming into my head. I guess I'm trying to say sorry for everything. I keep forgetting that when I talk to you, I'm talking to another person, not just myself. You know I'm sorry if I say anything that offends you, don't you? I would never mean to hurt you Rose._

_It's almost time to go back to school… can you believe it? We're N.E.W.T. students now. Have you got your marks back? I just got mine – all O.W.L.s, even in Ancient Runes (you worked wonders) and even an Outstanding in Charms and Transfiguration. It was just an E in potions and an A in History of Magic. Father wasn't overly thrilled with those, but I did what I could. What about you? Eleven outstandings I'm guessing, and I have a feeling that I'm right. And you can count on those feelings. After all, I do Divination – I know these things._

_I know this letter is a bit mismatched, and you're probably laughing at me right now, but it's the best I could do. I am sorry Rose, for everything. I don't expect you to forgive me, but I just want you to know that. I'm going to Diagon Alley today and tomorrow, so I hope to see you there? If not, September first._

_Sincerely,_

_S._

Rose sighed. She could easily imagine him writing the letter, the frustration he must have gone through trying to find those elusive perfect words. Scorpius had always been a perfectionist, always wanted to get things exactly right. It made tutoring him in Ancient Runes easier than she had expected, but now it was a block between the two of them. It would have been easier if she were face to face with him. She could have slapped him, gotten angry, _anything _and then they would be back to whatever normality their friendship possessed. But they couldn't, not like this. _I'm going to Diagon Alley today and tomorrow_…. A coincidence? Maybe, maybe not. Scorpius was bound to know someone who knew when they were going to the Alley. He could easily arrange to be there at the same time as them. The prospect of seeing him made Rose's heart skitter about in her chest. She wasn't ready to see him yet. She wasn't ready to give up her anger. He had insulted her family, and by extension, her. But in the letter, it was easy to see his pain, the way he ached for the past. Rose looked at Emrys.

"And what does he want me to send back, Emrys?" She asked, raking her fingers through her red curls. The owl hooted softly from the sill, but gave no answer that Rose could understand. "An acceptance? A proclamation of surviving friendship? I don't even know if what we have is friendship in the first place." Rose murmured to herself, absently fiddling with her fingers in anxiety. "James can't even stand the fact that I tutor him, let alone tell him I'm friends. And Merlin knows, Albus is no better than him. Even Louis finds himself tested by his mere presence." Rose sighed, picking up a piece of spare parchment and a quill from her bedside table. The nib of the quill hovered above the paper, a drop of ink falling and marking the paper with a dark smear.

Scorpius_,_ she began,

_I'm at Diagon Alley today. That's all I've got for you. I can't forgive you. Not yet anyway. I'm sorry, but that's the best I can do._

_Rose._

_P.S. Yes. Eleven O.W.L.s – all outstanding. It's official, I beat Mum in something. Hooray for me._

_P.P.S. Hugo let an Ashwinder get into the house during the summer. He's been a bit of an idiot this year. It was lucky that Mum and Dad came back when they did, otherwise the house would have been burnt down. That's how well my holidays are going. Marvellous, isn't it?_

The words felt woefully inadequate – there was just so much she wanted to say. How hurt she was. How she could understand, but that didn't justify anything. How much she hated it when he couldn't get along with her family. How, maybe, it was just easier if they weren't friends at all. How much she had wanted a letter from him, even one as confusing and assorted as it was. How he made her feel like she wasn't a let down to her family for not being a Quidditch player and not being a Gryffindor. How sometimes she dreamed of running away to somewhere where her parents and Harry Potter had never been heard of, and she would take him with her because no one else in the world seemed to think of Scorpius as a human being in his own right. How she felt so inadequate when she heard Lily was on her second boyfriend, and Rose hadn't even had one yet. How she wished she were more than her mother's brains and her father's height, and how she wished people could see beyond his father. How she had felt when she had heard James laugh at Scorpius's dream of being Auror, and saying that would never happen.

Part of her wanted to add another postscript, just to say the words she never could say out loud. _I missed you_. But that would be against everything. People who were angry didn't miss the friends who had angered them. But she did, and her anger was diminishing with every minute that passed. Scorpius was the one of the few people who didn't make her feel like she was alone in a crowded room, and the only one who wasn't biased to believe everything that came out of her cousins' mouths.

"Come on Emrys," Rose called out softly, fastening the reply to his leg before stroking his gleaming feathers. "Take this to him for me, okay? It's the best I have."

In his amber eyes, there was no judgement, only affection for the one person he had been sent to most often, the one who saw him, perhaps more than his owner's family. Rose Weasley sent more letters to him than anybody else, and he sent the same back to her. Him – the one person her parents had said she had to beat, the one she couldn't ever be a friend with because of her family, Scorpius Malfoy. The one person who understood what it meant to live in the shadow of a family legacy, and feel the influence of it as if it were the weight of the world bearing down upon their shoulders.

* * *

It was at promptly eleven in the morning that the Potter and Weasley branches of the family gathered at the Granger-Weasley country home. Its large expanse of tree surrounded paddock provided ample room for a quick Quidditch game between the fiercely competitive family members, making it the meeting place for almost any second generation gathering. Though Rose herself had only a middling interest in the game itself, she was forced to take her broomstick and mount it, playing as chaser against Lily, which, in itself, was a large disadvantage. Rose was an average flyer, good for general use but not for Quidditch. But her younger cousin was a chaser for the Gryffindor team, having inherited her mother's skill as such. Likewise, Albus and James were also talented flyers, though James had decided not to become a Quidditch player, despite his own aptitude for the skill. Instead, James liked the thrill of broom racing to the more strategic game of Quidditch. Hugo, for all his love of the game, was too full of dreams. He preferred the role of beater, though his small frame was more suited to the role of the seeker, so had never made the team, making the Gryffindor team only _mostly_ consisting of the Potter/Weasley family tree.

The match, consisting of teams of four (two chasers, one keeper and one beater to act as physical blocks for each side) was fast, furious and close to bloody. James weaved in and out of Lily and Roxanne, only to be sent whirling throughout the sky in an effort to avoid Hugo's broomstick as it darted across James's path. Dominique, in her truly fearless fashion, flew straight at Roxanne and Lily, forcing them to abandon their course rather than hit their beloved cousin, while Albus and Louis tried desperately to stop the balls from going past the designated score zone of the tree line, racing up and down the length of the trees, arms outstretched. On the odd chance Rose had the ball, she clung low to the ground and gave it as quickly as she could to James or Dominique, preferring to simply fly around the perimeter of the ground and pretend she was doing something when she was, in fact, doing nothing at all. It was to this that Lorcan and Lysander Scamander found themselves watching, as they appeared over the crest of the hill, the two young boys watching the match with some enjoyment.

"I thought we were going to Diagon Alley!" Lorcan called as James scored another goal, the ball slipping past Louis's fingers. "If I'd known this was going on, I'd have brought my own broom and played too!" The Gryffindor seeker proclaimed, elbowing the Ravenclaw seeker in the side. Lysander, for his part, did not do anything in return, only rolling his eyes so that Rose could see his exasperation. Both boys did not look overly like their mother, except for their large eyes. Dark haired and average height, the two were near identical were it not for their differing personalities. Lysander already had ink dried on the ends of his fingertips, with a rumpled quill shoved deep into his pockets, the edge of the feather barely peeking out, while Lorcan had a more suntanned face and a ready smile plastered nearly permanently on his face, with the sleeves of his shirt rolled up.

"We were just waiting for you guys to appear," Rose informed them, as Dominique and James started a fight about some foul James had, in all likelihood, committed but he denied. "And you know this lot. You can't say no to them if it's about anything Quidditch."

Lysander nodded in agreement as Lorcan wandered to talk to Hugo. "I know what you mean. Are Molly and Lucy coming today?" Lysander asked, mentioning Rose's two cousins, the daughters of Uncle Percy and Aunt Audrey. Rose shook her head, thinking of the two girls. Molly was a third year like the Scamander twins, and Gryffindor as well, while Lucy was a second year in Hufflepuff, the only Hufflepuff within the family. There was almost a strange kinship between Lucy and Rose, that came from not being Gryffindors, or perhaps, that the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff houses did seem to get along better with each other than with Slytherin or Gryffindor, or Merlin forbid, the two together. Those houses got along as well as Devil's Snare in sunlight.

"I don't think so." Rose said slowly, clutching her broomstick in her hands. "Uncle Percy and Aunt Audrey were too busy to come to Diagon Alley, and you know what Uncle Percy is like. He'll worry about them, even if they're right under his nose. I think the only time he'd let them come with us was if he knew Grandmum Weasley was coming." Rose added seriously. "I don't think he trusts my Dad, or Uncle Harry, that much either."

"Considering what my mum has told me," Lysander grinned slightly. "That would not surprise me in the least."

Rose nodded her agreement, motioning for Lysander to lead the way back to the house. "That's quite valid. I imagine Aunt Luna must have so many wonderful stories about my parents that Mum and Dad forbid Uncle Harry, or Uncle George from telling. Like, how Dad was totally off his rocker one time and ignored my mother for days because of some stupid rat. Or the time he broke Uncle Harry out from his Muggle family." Lysander arched his eyebrows at the mention of that story, but Rose continued on. "It's like the only stories they want me to here is ones were they broke no rules and had a good time and saving the world was as easy as staring at a Veela and, by Merlin's pants, they did nothing wrong. I'm sure that if I was going to go bad, I would have done so by now, don't you think?"

Lysander snickered as he pulled open the door for her, and followed Rose up the stairs. "You know what you are to them though. You're Daddy's princess, first born, the actual responsible one – hey, don't give me that look! I mean it! That's what you are!"

"Thanks for the reminder." Rose replied dryly. "So, my parents alter their stories to the point of it really being an 'inspired by' fiction, and you want me to believe the motivating cause is because I'm the _responsible first born_?" Sarcasm was heavy in her tone. "Of course, tell the truth to the child who will brag about it, and be inspired by it, but lie to the level-headed one. Lysander, your logic? Not the most sound I've ever heard. Just a head's up."

Rose dumped her broom on her bed, gathering a small bag of things she would need for the afternoon at Diagon Alley. Standing in the doorway, Lysander looked awkward and out of place, his cheeks stained red as he caught sight of some of the more feminine items within Rose's room. Like her father before her, Rose preferred mess in her space than order. The chaos, which in it's own way, was organised, extended only so far across her bedroom floor, leaving her study desk clear and neat.

"Well, my mother is Loony Luna, you know. Did you hear? Dad's taking Mum to the mountains to visit Granddad. He's up there looking for something or other…"

Rose tuned out Lysander's voice as her fingers found the scattered letters from Scorpius. A blush rising high into her cheeks, Rose tried to gather them all together inconspicuously. How could she have forgotten she had been reading them? If anyone knew she was speaking to him, writing to him… Rose would hate to see the outburst from James, or her father. Bundling the various letters together, Rose shoved them into a drawer roughly. It was all she could do until she was alone, safe in her bedroom with complete privacy.

"Rose, did you hear me?"

"Huh?" Rose turned around, smiling at Lysander. His still childish face was a picture of dramatic pain. Waving him away, Rose shuffled out of the room, closing the door behind her.

"Wrackspurts got you?" Lysander asked offhandedly.

Rose snorted. "Yeah. Totally."

* * *

"Uncle Neville!"

Hugging Professor Neville Longbottom tightly, Rose smiled up at the man who was as close to her family as any other blood relative. His wife, Hannah, looked on from the sidelines, waving her wand about to collect the excess ash from the carpet of the room and return it to the fireplace as the large group of assorted Weasley's, Potter's and Scamander's gathered together. Releasing him from her hug, Rose gave Neville the gift from Grandmother Weasley. "I don't know what it is," Rose promised, "but Mum wants me to give it to you, so here you are. Hello Hannah." Rose greeted her, turning to hug her as well. "Oh, and she told me to remind you that we're having a get together at the Burrow if you'd like to come. The twenty eighth, I'm pretty sure she said."

"And I already told Molly that we were both coming, didn't I?" Neville smiled at Rose, their faces almost level. Rose had always been tall for her age, and standing next to the Herbology professor just made Rose feel more so. "Anyway, are you all sure you don't want any lunch from the Cauldron? Or do you just want to go straight into the Alley?"

Looking at Hugo and Lily's eager faces, Neville seemed to find his own answer without Rose needing to say anything. He laughed. "Make sure to tell Hermione that I'll be there Rose. And don't cause any trouble James!" Neville called as the group left the apartment above the Leaky Cauldron, pushing and shoving each other down the stairs and out into the courtyard. As James tapped the third brick above the dustbin, the wall disappeared to reveal the bustling, wizard haven of Diagon Alley.

Rose was always taken by the business of Diagon Alley. Witches and wizards of all sizes, colours and shapes formed active, chattering crowds, discussing eagerly the newest wares and latest gossips of the magical circles. Every part of the Alley screamed magic, and the inhabitants of the Alley seemed to relish the freedom they had in being as magic as they liked without any discretion or restriction placed on them whatsoever. There, they could proclaim the wonders of the latest Nimbus broom (Nimbus X3000, which was still no match for the Firebolt 'Phoenix' model) or bemoan the agonising price of dragon liver (twenty galleons an ounce, with the price expected to soar as dragon numbers continued to decline) with no fear that a Muggle would overhear and suspect the existence of a world that ran alongside their own.

The younger cousins, of course, were the first to depart the group, dragging Hugo and Lily towards Uncle George's shop Weasley's Wizard Wheezes with an excitement that bordered upon exhilarated glee, while James, Dominique, Roxanne and Dominique were left to gather money from Gringotts and then spend it all while the others played jubilantly. James, unsurprisingly, was not focused on the job at hand for long, catching the eye of the attractive Hufflepuff Head Girl Verity Lucas and instantly putting on an air of easy confidence and swagger after giving Roxanne the key to his parent's vault. Dominique giggled as she watched James talk to Verity, turning to Rose.

"He really thinks he's the greatest gift to the world, doesn't he?" Dominique asked incredulously, murmuring French underneath her breath. Listening closely, Rose could distinguish the meanings of the ever so quiet words. _By Merlin, he needs to get his ego checked…._

"Oui." Rose agreed quietly, leading Dominique by the arm towards the goblin bank. "But every girl I know is practically tripping over her feet to be his girlfriend." Rose confided. "It's always 'James is so handsome' and 'James should play Quidditch' and all sorts of drivel. It's almost enough to make me vomit."

"Or want to break his nose." Dominique added with a small laugh. "I can just imagine his reaction. Not 'Good Merlin, why'd you break my nose you cow' but 'Good Merlin, now my nose is all crooked!' instead!" Dominique cackled as they wandered down the cobblestone street. "And, of course, because he pays no attention whatsoever in any of our classes, or even thinks of cracking open a book for that matter, he wouldn't know how to set it right, and I bet Madam Pomfrey or Madam Slaine wouldn't set it right either. It would heal all wonky, and it would serve him right!"

The happy imaginings continued as the three remaining continued towards Gringotts, but stopped unfortunately as they descended into the wizard bank at dizzying speed, cutting off Roxanne's vivid imagination of James being transfigured into his female counterpart, and forced to endure his own seedy pick up lines, of course, rendered by James' own enemies from the Slytherin house, a thought at which Dominique had laughed so loudly the goblins, including the head goblin of Griphook, had looked at her with barely withheld scorn. Moneybags full (and minds also full of errands), the three parted, Roxanne heading back towards her father's shop (for she was probably the only one who could keep sway over Lily) and Dominique heading, instead, for Quality Quidditch Supplies. Rose, though, wandered slowly through the throng of witches and wizards and contemplated nipping into Florean Fortescue's Ice-Cream Parlour (which was now run by his nephew, Daniel) for a sundae, when she spotted him.

Rose saw him from a distance, watching him over the crowd. He hadn't changed a bit in the summer, except, perhaps, he had grown a little taller. Otherwise, it was still the same boy, with the same white blonde hair that fell in gentle waves and grey eyes. For one moment, Rose was tempted to forget she had seen him at all, and move away from the Alley so there was no chance he could see her, but the moment passed and Scorpius's eyes locked on to hers. Her heart hammered in her chest. She wasn't ready to see him. As soon as he came close and said his first 'I'm sorry', she knew she would instantly forgive him the wound he had inflicted upon her. She wouldn't stand her ground, wouldn't stick to her convictions – she wasn't a Gryffindor after all. So Rose did the only thing she could think of doing. She ran, but she doubted it would do any good. She was easy to spot in a crowd, with her bright red hair and tall height.

Rose darted in between shoppers, past the shops and looked for a place to hide. Her mind rested briefly on the path to Knockturn Alley, but rejected it swiftly – her father would ground her for weeks if he knew she had gone down to Knockturn Alley. Catching a glimpse of light, wavy hair, Rose turned into the closest shop, and sought sanctuary in the high bookcases that filled Flourish and Blott's.

Her hands shook as she took out her school list, looking at the books she needed for the year. Nearly all of her subjects her mother had done at N.E.W.T. level, excluding Care of Magical Creatures. Her mother had continued Arithmancy, but Rose held little interest in the magical properties of numbers. The long number charts she had had to memorise during her O.W.L. year had nearly sent her to tears numerous times and it was luck, more than anything else, that had helped her remember the charts during the examination period. No, Rose was through with Arithmancy, and doing it simply because her mother had loved the subject. She preferred Care of Magical Creatures to it any day. And Hagrid had always said she had a hand with animals, an eye for detail.

The store door swung open, the bell's sound resonating through the near silent store, a contrast to the sound of pages turning and books being shelved. Rose jumped as a hand touched her shoulder, the booklist falling from her hands as she spun around.

"Oh, sorry!" She managed to squeak out, bending to pick up the paper as the store assistant looked at her curiously. "I didn't realise you were there! You frightened me! Silly me, right?" Rose's attempt at a laugh quavered in the air as the store assistant gently took the booklist from Rose's hands.

"A N.E.W.T. student?" He asked, leading her through the store. "We've got all of these. Wait here for a second, and I'll be back with the books. In fact, I might get you a bag… some of these are bulky…." The store assistant mumbled to himself, leaving Rose at the counter as he went towards the back of the store, murmuring book names and authors underneath his breath. Some of the books Rose already knew. It was her mother's habit to never sell a book, or give it away, so in her youth, Rose had often perused the books she would later need. It was only on her mother's orders that Rose went to buy the books again, with their newly revised content. Her mother didn't want her to be at any disadvantage, Rose supposed, though what disadvantage that was, Rose didn't know. What was the real difference between the books? Only twenty odd years, she guessed. Nothing much. Rose looked about the stacks of books, fingering the spine of one before pulling it out. The book smelt invitingly of parchment and it's leather cover.

"'Further Spells and Enchantments for the Practical Wizard'." Rose read aloud from the cover, before she skimmed through the pages. There were spells for minor healing, and for navigation, spells for cooking and cleaning, and spells for portable lamplights. Taking it into her arms, Rose continued to move down the aisle, taking another book out and flicking through it's pages. There was so much magic out there, she thought as she saw spells and diagrams in _Complex Wizardry for the Gifted _showing how to make fires of frost burning ice, slow time to around oneself to make a fast escape, so much to discover and find. All they had to do was be brave enough to risk failure.

"I've got the books here miss!" The store assistant returned with a bundle of books under his arms. Rose turned around, placing the book in her arms with the other and placing them gently down beside her schoolbooks.

"I've got my brother's booklist here as well. And, might I have these too?" She asked, pushing them across the counter. The man looked at her speculatively, his eyes wandering across her face. "I do have enough money, if that's what you're worried about you know." Rose added, her tone a touch too sharp as she saw the disbelief growing in the man's eyes.

"It's not that miss, I was just wondering if you might be getting a bit ahead of yourself." He replied, his tone apologetic as he took Hugo's letter from her hands. "I mean, these spells…" he pointed to _Complex Wizardry for the Gifted _and tapped it's blue leather cover with a sad smile. "They truly are quite complex and difficult miss. I have friends much older than you who can't do spells from these books, if you know what I mean. No disrespect miss."

"I should hope not," came a familiar voice from behind Rose. Her stomach sank in apprehension. She knew that voice, and she had been _hiding_ from that voice. "But I wouldn't worry on her part. Rose can do any spell you put at her. Her mother even taught her to make a Patronus, did you know? It takes the form of Granian. It's quite impressive really. But I guess that's what you expect from the daughter of Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, right sir?"

The store assistant's face flushed red. "Right, sorry, I'll just call this up for you." He mumbled, pushing his brown hair out of his face as he sorted through the books and returned to the back of the store to wrap them. Rose inhaled deeply, keeping herself safely calm. Why had he brought up her parents? She would have done just fine without their mention! Turning to face Scorpius, Rose crossed her arms over her chest.

"You didn't have to mention my parents. I was quite fine without you barging in." She told him sourly. Scorpius gazed back at Rose, his grey eyes merry as he leaned against the counter, a letter from Hogwarts in his hand, the familiar insignia blazed across the top of the paper flamboyantly.

"Okay, I will admit you are right there. But, his face? Priceless. He was insinuating that the daughter of one of the heroes of our age, and perhaps the greatest witch in existence today, was daft. You have to see the humour in that. No? Pity." Scorpius sighed, a grin pulled at his lips. "Oh, come on Rose! It's not that bad, is it?"

Rose frowned, scratching her fingernails into the wood of the counter. "Why aren't you asking why I ran away?" She asked, looking down at her hands rather than face him. It was such a stupid question to ask, but Rose felt like it needed an answer. If there was one person to confound Rose, it was Scorpius. He never could do anything in the way she thought he might. Not really. It was like he was always determined to prove her wrong on every single thing.

"That? I think it was because you're still mad at me? Yes? No?" Scorpius shrugged. "Either that or you don't really want to be seen with me, which is, I guess, fair enough. After all, I'm a Malfoy, and wasn't it sheer betrayal that allowed my family to weasel our way out of Azkaban? You can't trust a Malfoy, we'll betray you just to get what's best for us. That's what they say, isn't it? And it's a bit true, I guess. My father's family did betray… well, everyone. They got Voldemort to rise, then betrayed him… no, that was more my grandmother. And my father? Gosh, well didn't he just get in everybody's way? He caused Dumbledore to die, tortured who knows how many people…."

"Stop that!" Rose hissed, looking back up at Scorpius. "That's not you and don't you dare say anything like that again otherwise, by Merlin, I will hex your mouth shut so you can't!" Rose felt like she was on the verge of tears. "That's not you. What they did… that's not you!"

Scorpius sighed, his mouth falling into a straight line. "I'm sorry Rose, really. For everything. For the fight, for today." He stepped closer to her, so close they were almost touching, and lowered his voice to a whisper. "I'm sorry for saying that you were worthless. I honestly didn't mean it. I was just angry with Albus and James, angry for them being the way they were and making me feel like shit. That's not a good reason, it's an excuse but it's the only justification I have. You're my best friend Rose, you've _got _to know that I would never want to hurt you." He brushed a stray lock of hair out of her face. "I forget how your hair always gets so red in summer."

"Like a flame?" Rose managed to say, half laughing, half crying. "If you say like a flame, I will murder you. I get enough of that from James, and that's without him calling me out on being a prefect. _Prefect!_ The way he says it makes it sound like something nasty."

The store assistant returned with the books, neatly enfolded in layers of brown paper. Grabbing the parcel, Rose paid him and turned away, intent on heading to the Alley with her back straight and chin held up. Scorpius, however, put paid to the idea and walked alongside her, his face determinedly cheerful, opening the door for her in a fit of gallantry that Rose attributing to him trying to get back into her good books.

"Shouldn't you be getting your own books?" Rose queried as she walked down the Alley towards Madam Malkins. She nodded to the booklist Scorpius still had in his hands pointedly. "You're just going to look stupid when you go back into there, you know."

"I already got my books." Scorpius answered, his voice bright. "Smile Rose! It's a beautiful day, I am willing to grovel for forgiveness and you are a top grade N.E.W.T. student. You've beaten your mother's record, you're still the smartest witch or wizard of our age," Scorpius paused as Rose rolled her eyes at the title that had been transferred from mother to daughter, "and the Grey Lady happens to love you as do your bajillion cousins. Surely _something_ is worth smiling about on that list?"

A grin managed to find it's way into her expression. "Well, maybe the grovelling part." She admitted. Scorpius's face lit up jubilantly. "But that doesn't mean I'm forgiving you!" She added hastily, watching the happiness parade itself shamelessly on his face. "You're still not off the hook."

"Duly noted," Scorpius replied solemnly. "But if my grovelling is not enough, I have a surprise for you."

Rose peered closely at Scorpius, who was trying desperately to keep his expression straight and solemn, despite the bright smile that started to burgeon across his face. Even a smile he was fighting to keep from his face seemed to lighten his face, lighten his whole body, as if brightened by a sun inside him. Arching an eyebrow, Rose gave Scorpius a reluctantly half smile. There was nothing but a letter in his hands, and he was otherwise dressed in Muggle clothing. Just like Scorpius to tempt Rose with the mystery of a surprise. "Scorpius," she began, gesturing to his surprise-less state, "I hate to break it to you, but I don't see any surprise."

"Of course not." He replied in a matter of fact tone. "I'm saving it. Think of it as a last ditch attempt to be something other than a stupid git in your mind. Besides, I haven't got it yet. It's coming though, so don't worry."

"What is 'it'?" Rose added the air quotations with difficulty – the package of books in her arms proved awkward to manage. "It better not be a… I don't know. A framed plaque or something about my parents. Or…." Nothing else came to mind. "I don't know! But it better be good otherwise you will be a permanent git. It will say so on your permanent record too. _Scorpius Malfoy – permanent git. Do not remove._"

Scorpius laughed, coming a halt beside Rose. Stopping next to him, Rose furrowed her brow in confusion. "You're always good value Rose. I'll see you somewhere on the train, okay? I'll give you the surprise then. And you'll like it, I swear." He walked backwards slowly, merging into the crowd inch by inch. "Go and see your cousins Rosie!" He called to her questioning expression. "Your uncle's shop looks like it needs you to be there."

On that note, Scorpius waved and turned away, leaving Rose in the middle of a crowd with a parcel of books underneath her arm. Shaking her head, she looked at _Weasley's Wizard Wheezes_, only to see James, with his arm cocked, about to punch another man in the middle of the Alley.

Of course.


	2. Back To Hogwarts

**Chapter Two. Back To Hogwarts**

September first fell on a Thursday that year. The residues of summer still hung in the air, making the breezes warm against Rose's face. Reds and golds, the colours of autumn, only faintly flushed the leaves upon the trees, most remaining green. For Rose, it felt good to be moving again, moving forwards, and in the same way, backwards. Back to Hogwarts, back to school, back to a routine she could fall into without the confusing mess that was being at home, surrounded by her parents and their famous deeds and Orders of Merlin, First Class. They haunted her even when she was well away from them, in the magical grounds and wilds that was Hogwarts, but at least their presence was lessened.

The commuters of the morning trains glanced once, perhaps twice, at Weasley family as the four strode across the platforms. Rose, who had long ago forgone the desire to dress immediately in her robes as soon as she was across the barrier separating the magical world from that of the Muggles, watched the commuters with a slight interest. They waved away the obscene, owls in cages, strange words caught in the air, with a finesse and talent. It was as if they wanted to stay oblivious to the world running alongside theirs, that they ultimately knew that any merging of the two worlds would only result in disaster and tragedy. Playing idly with her prefect badge, the blue and bronze background, emblazoned with the Ravenclaw raven and a white 'P', perched proudly upon her chest, Rose turned away from the Muggle crowd, pushing her way through with her trolley. Hugo, in his eagerness to be out of the Muggle world, was already leaning against the barrier, chatting idly to a housemate until they fell out of sight with a blink of Rose's eyes. Her mother and father waved Rose forward, walking confidently into the barrier as if it were nothing but air in front of them. For a moment, Rose felt the bizarre urge to miss the train, remain outside the barrier amongst the throng of strangers who discarded the eccentric and uncanny. To be faceless and unknown.

But what would her parents think? They wouldn't understand, she knew that immediately. They wouldn't know what it meant to live as the silhouette of those greater than you, to be nothing more than their dark outline upon the ground, where light and knowledge could not find it's way. Rose steered her trolley towards the space between platforms nine and ten, walking briskly towards the apparently solid wall. Her eyes screwed tight at the last moment as always, bracing for an impact that never came. As she opened her eyes, she could see the platform come into view; the scarlet train with steam billowing from it to obscure the platform in its thick, cloudlike mist. Around her, Rose could _hear _the magical world – Uncle Percy was, as usual, loudly announcing the latest safety proclamations while owls hooted from every direction around her. She could hear students talking about their (accidental) magical exploits, and their new broomsticks, and the fact that their cousin Benjamin had gotten himself into trouble by pulling out his neighbour's magical garden and was now expected to have a Howler sometime in the mail. The strange, extraordinary world around her was familiar, homely. It was where she belonged.

Where they all belonged.

"Oh, there you are Rose!" Louis exclaimed, coming into view as he approached her. "Your mother was getting worried. Or flustered. You know Aunt Hermione, it's all the same anyway. Come on, I'll help you load up your trunk." Louis offered. Like her, he already had his Prefect badge pinned neatly onto his sweater, the red and gold contrasting magnificently with the deep blue of the hand knitted sweater. "Dominique's come to see us off too – of course Teddy and Victoire can't though. Victoire had to work today, and Teddy was trying to organise himself for his move here. Still… you'd think Victoire would come and see her brother off, wouldn't you?"

Rose shrugged, trying to manoeuvre her trolley through the crowd without hitting a person. "You know Victoire, she's always busy, fixing up nonexistent flaws. She doesn't like to do things by half measures. Or do things wrong. She's a perfectionist." Rose had a fleeting mental image of Victoire rearranging her desk in the Department of International Magical Co-operation for a fifth time before she was happy. "Besides, I heard the representatives of the French Ministry were coming over this month to discuss the possibility of a dragon reservation for the Welsh greens, and to discuss the relocation of the Hippocampi population off Scotland." Rose informed Louis seriously. "So she _will _be busy, preparing for those visits. Translating, liasing and all such. You shouldn't be too hard on her though. She's been here most other years."

Louis gave Rose a small glare. "Why is it that you can reduce any anger I have with logic? I don't think I particularly like you Ravenclaws anymore."

Rose beamed back at him as she stopped the trolley by the train, and with Louis's help, hefted it into the baggage carriage. "You love us." Rose insisted stubbornly as she took the owl cage from the trolley, it disappearing with a flick of the porter's wand. "We make for a refreshing change from the testosterone of Gryffindor. Admit it. Sometimes bold and courageous just can't cut it, and that's why you love us, for our wit and minds." As if to insist upon her point, Alyda opened a bright eye and hooted her agreement. "See, even my owl agrees, and we all know owls are particularly wise animals."

Louis held up his hands in surrender. "You win, you win!" He exclaimed, stepping closer to Rose to ruffle her hand with his hand. Curly locks tumbled into her face, set free from behind her ears, falling in front of her blue eyes, her father's eyes. "I won't ever try to best you again – well, okay, that's a straight out lie, we all know I will. But I accept that you won. _This _time. One day, _one day_, you will be exhausted and mentally drained or sleep deprived and then I will win little cousin."

"That's cheating. Just a little."

"Hufflepuff is fair play. Gryffindor's competition."

"Then maybe you should have been Slytherin. They're cunning after all." Rose said slyly, ducking out from under his arms as Louis made a show of being shocked and reached to cuff the back of her head. Darting through the crowd, Rose called back to Louis, "Come catch me Louis, if you can!"

When Rose finally returned to her family (both the Weasley and Potter lines), she and Louis were both out of breath and laughing, with Rose's hair smoking a little after a run in with a first year, who had dropped his wand with alarming speed, leaving it to spark. While her father simply seemed amused at his eldest daughter, Rose's mother seemed exasperated, using her wand to remove the last of the sparks and smoke, examining the locks to make sure there was no damage. "Oh Rose," Hermione Weasley sighed, "what will I do with you? One minute you're the child I can trust, the next it's Hugo." Her mother gave Rose a small grin, looking slightly up at her daughter from their height difference. "Well, it's almost time."

Rose hugged her mother (Hermione muttered reprovals all the while in an _almost _amused tone) and her father (Ronald Weasley simply told Rose not to stir up too much trouble in the first week – that was what Hugo was for) as Louis went to his own parents, before turning to Aunt Ginny and Uncle Harry, both of whom seemed to find the fact that Rose, serious Rose with eleven Outstanding O.W.L.s under her belt, had been caught giggling like a small child deeply amusing.

"Yes Uncle Harry?"

"Nothing Rose," he chuckled. "We'll see you for Christmas. And if you could…"

"Not killing James is a good thing," Aunt Ginny added. "Or transfiguring him. If you don't mind, of course."

Rose cast a glance at Roxanne, who had the decency to look slightly shamed at being caught handing information to the older generation. Pushing her hair out of her face, Rose hugged both her aunt and uncle, before kissing Dominique on the cheek, and hugging Uncle George tightly, who seemed to be in slight shock that his own daughter would betray a cousin to give away valuable information to a responsible adult. "When I was your age…" Uncle George began as he released Rose from his hug, shaking his head in disapproval. "I wouldn't have dared tell my mother about what I had planned for the gits at school. Or Umbridge either." Uncle George added. "Well go on then, get on the train before I decide to really lecture you missy!"

Roxanne gave a sheepish grin, linking her arm around Rose as she tugged them both towards the train. "We'll see you at Christmas!" She called back at the group of family members. "And I'll keep Rose in line, I swear."

Rose jabbed her in the ribs. "Sure, sure." Rose told Roxanne as the train whistle cried out through the air, and the conductor called for last boarding. The younger members of the family ran towards the train, James, Albus and Hugo hugging their parents swiftly before boarding and standing beside their cousins. Louis, shoving James to hurry up so Lily and Uncle Percy's daughters could board the train as well, yelled out to his mother in French. Molly and Lucy waved their final goodbyes before setting themselves down in a nearby compartment, while James rushed throughout the carriage, looking for his friends. A few remained by the door, Rose and Hugo, with Louis waiting patiently for Rose, as the train blew its final whistle. With a rumble, the train began to move, slowly at first, wheels moving faster fractionally with each passing second.

"Be good! You too Hugo!" Their mother called out, while their father placed an arm around her shoulders. Exasperation was clear on her expression. "If I get one more notice of misbehaviour Hugo…." Hermione threatened, but Hugo, in his joy of being back aboard the Hogwarts Express, seemed impervious to any threat, simply laughing.

As her family disappeared around the corner, Rose turned back to Louis, watching the back of her brother as he walked down the train carriage. "Shall we go to the prefect carriage then?" Louis asked, gesturing towards the front of the train. At Rose's nod, they embarked off together, two prefects of Gryffindor and Ravenclaw, chattering idly away about how they could possibly humiliate James.

* * *

It was halfway through the day when it was elected Rose's turn to take hall duty. It was a general consensus of the twenty-two prefects, and the Head Boy and Head Girl, that hall duty was not an overall pleasant experience. First, it meant leaving the comfy seats of the carriage to walk almost aimlessly up and down the corridor of the train, and second, being a prefect was hardly a position to be held without fear of glares and general harassment. If one was a Gryffindor, walking through the unofficial Slytherin carriages was hardly an enjoyable experience, and vice versa. To be honest, Rose didn't really mind going on hall patrol. She was a Ravenclaw, and like Hufflepuff, was not severely disliked by the Slytherins and more forgettable.

Others called it being not worth the effort, but Rose liked her view better.

"Come on Matt," Rose said, standing up and stretching. The other sixth year Ravenclaw prefect stood up with resignation. Matthew Harvey, a talented Muggle-born was the only person Rose had known who was could truthfully say that he towered over her. Burly and tall, Matt was a menacing figure on the horizon, but a studious and thoughtful boy on closer inspection… and one of Rose's close friends. There was an understanding in Matt that could reduce even the most complex of dilemmas to the simplest of problems. In a way that no other could, Matt could see deep into the heart of issues.

"How were your holidays?" Matt asked as they left the carriage, ducking his head to avoid the doorframe. "I didn't really see that much of you around. I thought you were going to London and staying at the Cauldron at the end of July for a week. But Mrs Longbottom said you never checked in."

Rose looked up at Matt, the feeling still strange to her even after all the years of their friendship. Just once, she wanted to measure Matt's height, to try and figure out just how high he had his head in the clouds. "Yeah, it fell through. Sorry, I completely forgot that you were thinking of catching up with me there. Mum and Dad cancelled the trip after Hugo let an ashwinder into the house. I don't think I've ever seen Dad so angry. He kept harping on about responsibility and how the house could have burnt down. But what about you?"

"Same as usual. Just me, my parents and some strange normality. They don't really understand magic, so they just try to keep it in the corner of their minds. '_Oh, my son's a wizard. Yeah, we'll just leave that over there'_. Of course, Em doesn't mind so much. She's always begging me to show her what I can do, even though I explain over and over again that I can't, it's against the law." Matt grinned. "It's a bit of a shame that she's not like me. She just turned eleven, and no letter. I think she's a bit sad about that, about not coming here. She would have liked it."

Rose didn't know what to say. She knew Matt was close to his half sister Emily, and his sadness at her being a Muggle likely stemmed from the new divisor that kept them apart and reminded him that they were not full blood relatives. But that was how life went, Rose supposed. Those deserving of a place at Hogwarts, the most eager and keen, were not always the ones who gained a position. It was magic that decided the students of Hogwarts, not their wanting to belong to the world of magic.

The walk through the train carriages was mostly uneventful. Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws from their year greeted them with a wave, and sometimes a small talk, as they walked past, while Rose's family caused a small traffic problem in the trains in their eagerness to greet Rose as an apparently long gone sister. It was easy to know the house areas from each other. Ravenclaw was usually closest to the front of the train, and were the quietest, sometimes reading or playing wizard's chess, while Hufflepuff dwelt next to them in a moderately noisy environment, greeting each other warmly and joking. The rowdy Gryffindors were in the middle of the train, and thus could be heard by everyone, while Slytherin lingered towards the back, close to silent. Since the Second War, the house of Slytherin was met with disdain and festering hatred, even by some of the Hufflepuffs, who were taught to foster tolerance and fair play. It seemed that no one could forget what had happened, what had been done by those once of Slytherin house, and laid their feelings from the past to the students of the present. It was unfair prejudice, but there seemed to be nothing anyone could do about it.

It was at the beginning of the Slytherin carriages that Rose was pulled into a compartment, and Matt along with her. Matt, as one of Rose's closest friends, knew that Rose and Scorpius talked about more than Ancient Runes, the subject Rose tutored him in, and to Matt's credit, did not judge or lecture her about the Malfoy family. As such, Matt was one of the only people Rose truly trusted to come along with her when she saw Scorpius.

Plus, he was probably the only person Rose knew who was a friend to Cody Bennet outside of her own house. Or just a friend.

It wasn't surprising that Scorpius and Cody were the only occupants of the compartment. Cody, for her short fuse and cutting tongue, was not a popular girl, while Scorpius, for his Malfoy blood was blamed for the dark reputation of the Slytherin house. Their combined presence was enough to ward away most Slytherins from being near them, as well as most other people. Cody sat on the left side of the compartment, resolutely reading the Daily Prophet and ignoring the new presence while Scorpius settled back into his seat on the right side of the carriage, patting on the space to his left for Rose to sit.

Matt took a seat next to Cody, ignoring her dark eyed glare as he craned his neck to read the Daily Prophet over her shoulder. Rolling her eyes, Cody gave one side of the Prophet to Matt, holding the paper between the two of them. This, Rose knew, was a sign of a burgeoning friendship. To any other person, Cody was more likely to hex them rather than share her paper, or give them a traditional black eye. The dark haired, dark eyed beater of the Slytherin house was not known for her outstanding patience, or control of her temper, and her threats were notoriously followed through.

"Glad to see they're getting along." Rose stage whispered to Scorpius as she sat next to him. Scorpius grinned in amusement. It was a physical pain to know that the Scorpius she could see, the smiling joking one, would be gone within days of their arrival at Hogwarts. A hated Malfoy could not be happy, nor were they allowed to have friends – and the people around him ensured that this was the case. Soon, he would become more quiet and withdrawn, less at ease and more troubled by the glares and actions the other students would take against him. "So, come on, where's my surprise? Don't think I've forgotten."

"I wouldn't dream it," Scorpius returned seriously. He reached to his right and brought out a wrapped parcel. It was long but not thick, though a strange square bump in the centre did make the parcel's contents a mystery to Rose. "Go on, open it." Scorpius urged.

Rose didn't need to be told twice. She tore through the brown wrapping, and gasped in delight. In her hands was an art book, blank and ready for her drawings, with her name emblazoned in gold across the black cover. On top of the book were two more gifts – a small calligraphy set and a box of charcoal.

"The pages are charmed," Scorpius told Rose. "As soon as the picture is done, it comes to life. And the paper won't smudge. Ever. I thought you might like it seeing as you're always drawing on scrap bits of parchment. _Do _you like it?"

Matt looked up over the Daily Prophet. "Of course she likes it." He replied, cutting across Rose as she opened her mouth. "You'd have to be an idiot not to see that. Are you an idiot?" Matt queried, his tone humoured. His smile was quickly dropped as Cody hit him absently over the head, his golden hair falling into disarray. Matt scowled at Cody but took the message, hiding himself back behind the Daily Prophet and reading.

Rose bit back a laugh. "This is wonderful, Scorpius." She told him. "I mean it. And, okay, _fine_, you win. I forgive you. Mostly anyway." Rose flicked through the book. It would be a shame when she ran out of pages, but not a loss. She would just pester Scorpius to tell her where he had got the book from, because it was certainly not from Diagon Alley. "Are you both looking forward to being back at school?" Rose asked as she closed the cover, and set the gifts down beside her. Scorpius gave a short laugh, bitter and sarcastic, but didn't reply – words were not necessary for Scorpius to convey his feelings about returning to Hogwarts. His response was not surprising to Rose, it was almost expected. However, Cody's response, or rather acknowledgement of the question, was surprising. Cody lowered the paper and gave Rose a long, complicated look, before sighing.

"I guess." Cody replied evenly. Rose was sure her mouth was hanging open in shock; Cody rarely spoke when Rose was around her. "I'm looking forward to Care of Magical Creatures this year now that some of the stupid gits in our class have left. Are you continuing the subject too? Scorpius said you got an O.W.L. in it." Rose nodded mutely, and Cody continued at once. "Why are you looking at me like that?" Cody asked, her brow furrowed and her tone slightly annoyed. "I just figured I should get on with you, if we're going to be in classes together. By Merlin, I thought you Ravenclaws were meant to be intelligible."

"Play nice Cody," Scorpius murmured, "you don't want to get in trouble before school even starts."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Cody returned, pulling the paper from Matt's hands and disappearing behind it. For a small moment, before the paper obscured Cody's face, Rose thought she saw the tiniest blush on her pale skin, a contrast between her black hair and sharp, angular features. If Cody's eyes had been a hazel, or a gold, Rose would have thought she were a cat, with her high cheekbones and quick eyes. "Do me a favour, tell Verity that I'm not coming up to the prefect carriage." Cody added, her voice muffled. "Every other prefect she sends down this way has been told to try and get my butt up there, but I can't be bothered. Besides, Turpin and Cadell are enough Slytherin without adding me to the fray."

Rose blinked. She had forgotten that Cody was a prefect, mainly because Cody did so little with it. She never joined the prefects in their carriage, nor did she abuse her power like some others felt the need to, or even wear her badge for that matter. To be truthful, Rose wasn't even sure that Cody used the prefect bathroom. Rose knew for certain that Scorpius didn't – many of the Gryffindor prefects thought it was insulting that Scorpius was equal to them in position, though he was only the Slytherin Quidditch captain. In the interest of peaceful co-existence, Scorpius had decided to stay firmly out of their way, even if it meant giving up a privilege he had earned.

"Sure, I'll pass it along. Speaking of which, we better finish our rounds." Rose stood, watching Matt as he tried to grab the paper from Cody again, but had his hand forcefully slapped away. He looked at Cody reproachfully, but she was oblivious to his attempt at shaming her into sharing the paper once again. With her presents gathered under her arms, Rose wrapped her fingers around Matt's wrist and pulled him towards the door to the compartment, sliding it open. "You do realise I'm going to show you every drawing I do in this book now, don't you? And pester you to get me more of these?"

Scorpius reclined backwards, stretching himself over the whole seat. "Wouldn't have it any other way Rose. I need something to amuse me after all."

* * *

The steaming breath of the Thestrals was something few people saw as the apparently horseless carriages came to the gates to collect the second to seventh year students. Ignoring the strange looks given to her, Rose patted the neck of the Thestral, the winged horse looking at her with interest with it's white, pupil less eyes. Smelling no blood or meat it was allowed to eat, it turned away in disinterest and stamped a hoof on the ground, the carriage remaining still as people climbed into it.

"What are you doing Rose?" Shian asked, peering out of the carriage's door. Her mass of dark curling hair fell over her shoulders as she leaned forwards to catch a glimpse of Rose. "Come on, I'm hungry. I want to get to the feast before the table fills up and we get shoved next to the second years."

"Coming!" Rose replied, "I'm coming!" She gave the Thestral a final pat before walking to the carriage and letting herself in. As soon as Rose closed the door and sat beside Shian, the carriage rattled forward, the dark shadows of the Thestrals catching Rose's attention as her friends around her spoke.

The carriage was full to capacity with it's six occupants of Rose, Shian Warrun, a fellow Ravenclaw sixth year, Matt, Pippa Drewe, a Ravenclaw prefect in the seventh year and the two Hufflepuff sixth year prefects Alexis Bell-Wakely and Thomas Stam. The mismatched group of sixth and seventh years, and of Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs, had been friends since the earliest days of Rose's Hogwarts life. After her somewhat shocking sorting in Ravenclaw, it was Shian, her dorm mate, who had accompanied her to every class and made her feel welcome in the house that Rose had not expected to be sorted in to. Shian had been friends with Matt before Rose, as they were both Muggle-borns and felt out of place, but they had accepted the half-blood Rose with no hesitation. The Hufflepuffs had become friends during their Potions and Flying lessons, in which it was discovered that Shian was a natural born flier, a fact around which the initial friendship between Shian and Thomas, a half-blood, had been built around. As Thomas was friends with Alexis, and Shian friends with Rose and Matt, the group had become acquainted soon after and became friends, often sitting together in their shared classes. It had only been later, when most students left for Christmas at home but Rose and Matt had remained, that she had met Pippa, one of the few Ravenclaw students remaining, after Pippa had answered the question posed by the raven knocker on the door to the Ravenclaw common room and let both Matt and Rose in. The fact that most of them were prefects seemed to be another bond between them, a secret influence that they all shared, even if Shian was no prefect.

There were, of course, other friends. Albus was close to Rose, as was Louis and Roxanne. The Scamander twins, though three years younger than Rose, were good friends, and Norah Rafferty of Gryffindor was a sweet person, even if Rose only saw her when they met as prefects, the year and house difference leading to almost no contact. Jimmy Thornton was always an interesting philosophical conversation about the nature of things, and Therese Witton and her boyfriend Charlie Winchester were two people who could always make Rose smile, regardless of her mood. They were all friends, but none so close as Rose's normal ragtag group of Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw sixth (and seventh) years. There was barely a need to talk between the group, not about the important things. Instead, there was an unspoken understanding between all of them, that even if they were apart and didn't speak, they would still do anything for the others, still help in any way they could, even if they didn't fully understand why the other needed help. Even if it were beyond them, they would still try.

"So that's from Scorpius, right?" Shian asked, pointing to the art book. Rose blushed, torn between keeping the art book a secret and telling her friends. It wasn't that her friends excluded her for her friendship with Scorpius, or that they didn't know – they did. And most of them were perfectly fine with it, as long as Rose still cheered for Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff whenever they met Slytherin in Quidditch. Matt and Shian were perhaps the most open about the friendship, most willing to keep her secrets and the most friendly to Scorpius, while Pippa had a disapproval about the Slytherin house as a whole. Thomas, for his part, was neither disapproving nor approving, simply above the situation, letting Rose live her own life, but Alexis had made no attempt to hide her whole displeasure and condemnation of any association above hatred with anyone of the Malfoy line. While Rose wasn't quite sure why this was, as her parents and Alexis didn't speak of it, she knew it was directly related to Scorpius's father, Draco Malfoy, and Alexis's mother, Katie Bell.

"Yes," Rose said slowly. Alexis ground her teeth together but said nothing. "And there is absolutely nothing wrong with him giving me a present Alexis." Rose continued wearily, wishing that Shian hadn't brought up the subject. "It's just an art book."

"He's just trying to bribe you into forgiving him after he called you worthless and said you should disappear." Alexis spat back, looking more like a Gryffindor than a Hufflepuff. "You're not stupid Rose, and nor are you blind. Do you honestly think he's that different from any other Slytherin we've come across? Or his father? All Scorpius Malfoy will ever be is trouble." Alexis's voice seemed obscenely loud in the silence of the carriage, even as it rattled across cobblestone and rock, the wood of the carriage creaking.

Rose clutched the art book tighter in her hands. "That's not what… you've got it wrong." Rose managed, looking down at her knees. "He was angry at James, at Albus, not me. He didn't mean to call me those things. He wouldn't _ever_… and he apologised. And I accepted it." Rose finished firmly. Why had all the Gryffindor courage skipped her? "And that's the end of it. We've been over this 'Lexis. Scorpius is my friend, and you are my friend. It doesn't mean you two have to be friends, because by Merlin, that would never work, but if you could respect my decision, it would be appreciated. He doesn't speak about you like you speak about him."

"Because he _knows_ he's in the wrong!" Alexis exclaimed. "Rosie, I'm just trying to protect you! Slytherins are vile! They're cunning and manipulative. You don't think it's possible that he's using you, like his father used everyone around him? Rose…" Alexis reached across the carriage, placed her hands over Rose's. "I don't mean to make this hard, but… I just don't want to see you hurt when you realise he's just like every other Slytherin we've met. Look at who he's friends with! I mean, Cody Bennet! That girl has sent more people to the hospital wing than anyone else I can think of, and we all know that when she's playing Quidditch, she's more playing to kill than anything else."

"That's not fair Alexis." Matt said quietly. Alexis glanced at Matt, frustration written clear across her face. "And you know it. Look at Roxanne. I'd say whenever she plays Quidditch, she plays it to kill. That's what a beater does – they play to injure and hurt and killing is a part of that intent. They don't do half-hearted efforts."

Matt's interruption seemed to prompt everyone else to life. Shian placed an arm comfortingly around Rose, while Thomas pulled Alexis back into her seat. "Let it go." Pippa advised from beside her, looking at Alexis meaningfully. "We're back at Hogwarts, all together for the first time in months… let's not ruin this, shall we? It's my last year guys, my last start-of-term feast in the Great Hall for the rest of my life. Might I have the presumption of asking that I can have a good one?"

The carriage fell silent, the six occupants simultaneously looking away from one another, Rose turning to stare out the window. She could see Hogwarts beginning to come into view, with its high towers and stonewalls, light spilling out of arching windows into the dark sky. _Home_, in all of it's archaic, magical glory. A sigh escaped her lips. She could already see the Great Hall, it's ceiling reflecting the clear, starry sky, with lit candles hovering over tables full of chattering students. In her mind's eye, she could see the Ravenclaw common room, with it's silks and wide windows, and spectacular view of the mountains. _Home_. Her second home, welcoming her back to it's trick doors and hidden mysteries, it's magic and encompassing families of houses.

The carriage stopped at the base of the steps of the Entrance Hall, and Rose stepped out of it, waiting patiently for the others to come along. Alexis whispered a hurried apology as they followed Pippa and Matt up the stairs and through the Entrance Hall into the Great Hall, giving Rose a sad look as she and Thomas left for the Hufflepuff table on the far right of the hall, Rose turning to the table second from the left – the Ravenclaw table. She could see so many familiar faces as she took her seat, Shian sitting beside her and Matt opposite her. There was Justin Kendrick, who Rose did have a small crush on… still, and beside him Katherine Otto, his girlfriend since fourth year. And there was Lysander with his friend Adrienne Boot, both talking to Lorcan in the table next to them. And on the staff table… there was Professor Blandus, the charms teacher, and Professor Ward, the Defence Against The Dark Arts teacher, and even Professor Dyanne, Professor Hagrid's assistant in Care of Magical Creatures. From the centre of the table, Professor Cyning, the Headmaster, sat, watching his students with warmth in his eyes. And… and there, the Sorting Hat, the frayed, dirty hat which had chosen Ravenclaw for her above Gryffindor. The familiarity of the setting washed over Rose. This was home, and she was finally back.

The deputy Headmaster, Professor Blanche, opened the wide doors to the Great Hall, leading in the first years. They looked so small to Rose's eyes, and so afraid of the unknown place that was Hogwarts. Silence descended amongst the students, even amongst the silverly shadows of the ghosts, as the first years filed in, their robes new and eyes wide as they pointed to the sky-ceiling and the floating ghosts. As they halted in front of the staff table, Professor Blanche stood by the Sorting Hat, a scroll in hand which Rose knew was full with the names of the first years. The first years, in confusion, stared about them, not knowing what to do, whilst everyone else stared at the shabby wizard's hat on the stool at the front of the hall. It amused Rose to watch them, trying to make sense of the strange happenings. As the brim of the hat opened to form a mouth, Rose turned her attention to the hat, waiting for its song. With a collective intake of breath, the hat began to sing.

"_When these walls were young, _

_And thus I was too,_

_Hogwarts had its four founders, _

_To choose between you._

_Brave Godric Gryffindor, _

_Of boldest nerve and dare,_

_Warm Helena Hufflepuff, _

_Of the fairest and kindest care._

_Sage Rowena Ravenclaw, _

_Of the most careful mind, _

_And grand Salazar Slytherin, _

_Who was the most ambitious kind._

_But who would take their pick_

_Once the founders were gone?_

_T'was then I came to life,_

_To sort and pick with merry song._

_If you've a wit, a mind, _

_Or the gift of spell,_

_Perhaps it is to bronzed Ravenclaw,_

Where you should let your mind dwell.

_Or if you've an open mind,_

_With a loyal, ready heart,_

_Maybe it is to golden Hufflepuff,_

_Where you should make your start._

_Perchance you're brave and daring,_

_Of determined mettle,_

_Then to the crimson Gryffindor,_

_You should let your heart settle._

_Or if you've a resourceful nature,_

_Of vaulting, striving mind,_

_Then it is to the silvered Slytherin,_

_Where you will find your kind._

_So put me up_

_Upon your shining head._

_It is my honour and my duty _

_To make the choice in their stead._"

As the hall burst into applause, Rose nudged Shian in the side. "Ever wondered if the hat just repeats the same seven songs? I figure, it must run out of words to describe the four founders after … what, at least five centuries?"

"More," Shian responded with a grin. "I don't know, maybe we'll just have to fail a year and come back. See if it's the same. If it was, it'd be a Hogwarts-wide conspiracy. Though, you'd think… you know… because it's just a _hat_ that it would have plenty of time to think of synonyms. If not, I'm sure all the portraits in Professor Cyning's office will give him hints when he needs it."

The mental image of all of the previous Hogwarts headmasters helping the Sorting Hat craft a new song by shouting down synonyms and rhymes amused Rose immensely.

As the Sorting proceeded, Rose couldn't help but pity the young students. Even though Rose had known how she was going to be sorted before she came to Hogwarts, she had still been fearful of the Sorting Hat. She had wanted desperately to be a Gryffindor, but she wasn't cut from the same cloth as the rest of her family. The memory of her sorting flooded back to her, Rose's cheeks burning in shame. She had _begged _to be a Gryffindor, but the Sorting Hat had refused. She simply couldn't be a Gryffindor… and what was worse…

Ten year old Rose was scared, and nervous. Her stomach was in knots, twisting inside of her as the hat was placed on her head. Her mind was spinning in every direction, trying to hear for the first whisper of the Sorting Hat within her mind. The hat had just sung of the proud, chivalrous Gryffindor, but she was hardly that. But she needed to be.

Please, Gryffindor, I need to be a Gryffindor… _Rose spoke within her mind. After a moment, she heard the hat's reply._

'A Gryffindor? No, I don't think so Miss Weasley, you're not a Gryffindor I fear. Are you loyal, are you brave? To be sure, we all know that. But are you proud? Reckless? Daring? No. What else hides beneath your hair, Miss Weasley?'

_Rose gripped the stool tighter. She wasn't going to be a Gryffindor? The ache that the realisation caused within her was palpable and real. _Please_, she begged again, _I need to be a Gryffindor. That's all I am, a daughter of Gryffindors. Please.

'That's all? Hardly. What can I see? A brilliant intelligence, your mother's hand with anything magic, an imaginative mind, a thirst for knowledge… all of this is here Miss Weasley… and the ambition to outshine your mother, and the ingenuity to do so, and… what's this? Could there be something more to you Miss Weasley?'

No, no. Please, _please_, Gryffindor, please, please. That's all I am.

_How was everything going wrong? Her entire family was Gryffindor! She was destined to be a Gryffindor… but yet…_

'Yes, I see it. A leader with the backbone you think you lack. That's here too.'

Gryffindor then. Bravery, strength… that's Gryffindor. I'm a Gryffindor, aren't I? But… I'm not. I'm not brave. That's James. That's Uncle Harry. That's Albus. He didn't even shake coming up to try you on, not like me. I'm not brave. But please, let me be Gryffindor.

Was this taking a long time, or a short time? Rose wasn't sure. She wasn't sure of anything. If she wasn't a Gryffindor, she couldn't be sure of anything in her life.

'Are you sure you aren't brave Miss Weasley? Are you sure Gryffindor is what you truly want? No, you wouldn't be happy there Miss Weasley. It's Ravenclaw or Slytherin for you Miss Weasley… but… I think…'

"RAVENCLAW!"

Ten year old Rose opened her eyes and took off the Sorting Hat, aware that her cousins weren't applauding, but staring at her, the first Ravenclaw in a family of Gryffindors, the first outsider.

Rose squeezed her eyes shut, blocking out the past and concentrating on the future. "Creevey, Colin!"

Silence. Colin Creevey was a name placed on the memorial of those dead during the Second Battle of Hogwarts. And yet… Rose opened her eyes. A small boy with a round face sat on the stool, swinging his legs backwards and forwards in comfort, smiling at the Sorting Hat spoke to him inside his mind, completely at ease.

"GRYFFINDOR!" The hat yelled, and the table to Rose's left erupted in applause and loud cheers. The boy leapt from the stool, taking off the hat with a flourish and walking with his back straight towards the Gryffindor table.

That was a Gryffindor, not her.

* * *

_Disclaimer: all of this ultimately belongs to J.K. Rowling (characters, setting, the world, basically everything you recognise). The plot, the writing – that's mine. No stealing. I have a man eating giant bunny on loan to track you down and gobble you. You have been warned._

**

* * *

**

A/N:

Um… this story… may take a little while for everything to start fitting together… but it will. Patience is a virtue. Um, I just want to point out that Shian is pronounced 'Sharn' – like barn but a 'sh' instead of a 'b'. Shian's named after a friend of mine, and I love her name and I've wanted to use it for ages. I theorise the name is based off the Irish Sian, which is based off Jane. I think. Maybe.

Um, you will notice that Rose is a little bit depressed about being a Ravenclaw. Don't get mad at her/me. It's not that she's got anything against being Ravenclaw – it's just part of her character development.

Oh, and I now have a greater respect for J.K. Rowling. Writing all those Sorting Hat songs would have been AWFUL.

Thanks go to **SallyMadison** (hope this doesn't disappoint! Just wondering, was it simplicity of writing or plot, because the latter is not going to be simple but at the same time, will be if that makes ANY sense), **Mariketa the weylock **(thank you!) and **ProperT **(Thanks! But now I'm feeling the pressure… how about, in the end, we compare thoughts and I'll see if you're disappointed or not? =) ) for the reviews and to **teddy240b**, **AmazingMe** and **lumierelanuit** for the watches. You make my story feel loved. =)

Feel free to watch, review, hate, flame, be a ghostie, or ignore. But no stealing.

xx

Ghost.


	3. Infamy

**Chapter Three. Infamy**

Rose was tempted to scowl as she cast her eyes down her timetable. It was full, there was no denying it, but she had wished it to be so. She couldn't imagine a world where she didn't do Transfiguration, or Charms, or Ancient Runes. A world without History of Magic (or Professor Cuthbert Binns), or Astronomy – now, that was all too easy to envision. She hadn't had any particular desire to learn more about Goblin revolutions and Giant wars, and the midnight Astronomy classes had always disrupted her circadian cycles too much to be anything other than a sheer annoyance. And dropping Arithmancy, despite her mother's disappointment that her daughter hadn't held it in the same way she had, was a relief. But everything else… she just couldn't imagine a world without it.

Matt peeked over Rose's shoulder, tugging at her long braid. "Ouch. But, you know, you could have crammed one more subject in there." He pointed to Rose's study periods on the timetable before her. "In fact, I'm surprised you didn't. You've got a whole reputation of bookworm tendencies to live up to, you know."

Rose flicked Matt on the nose, grabbing her goblet of orange juice. She had found out in the first feast she had ever attended at Hogwarts that pumpkin juice was, by no means or stretch of imagination, a better tasting drink that it's solid form to Rose's palate. "Shut up. Just because you've got twice as many study periods as me doesn't mean you get to lord it over me. That's not what a good friend does. A good friend commiserates my lack of life and the time my studies will take from me. That's what a good friend does."

Matt arched an eyebrow next to her. "No, that's what a _friend _does. A _good _friend laughs at your misfortune, and then spends time alongside you in the academic prison you have constructed yourself."

Rose scoffed. "You just want me to help you." She pointed out, smiling as Norah Rafferty waved a greeting across the hall as she left for her own classes. "Admit it. You know that without me, you would fail and you staying by me would have nothing to do with being a good friend, but a good student."

Shian snickered into her porridge from across the table. As Matt and Rose looked up at her, she shrugged. "She's got a point there, Matt," Shian told him, her grin wide and devilish. "And we all know it. I remember when you were practically her shadow in second year because you couldn't answer any of the raven's questions to get into the common room, and you didn't want to be embarrassed when another person came along and solved it-"

Matt leaned across the table and slapped a hand on Shian's mouth. "Stop!" He hissed, his cheeks flaming red. Rose giggled, setting down the goblet before she spilt it out of sheer laughter. The normally quiet Matt, calm and reasonable, was blushing from the roots of his hair down to his toes. "She doesn't know about that!"

"Didn't!" Rose corrected with a sly grin on her face. "Past tense, as opposed to present. Thank you for that interesting tidbit of information Shian." Rose tipped her head at her friend in acknowledgement for the favour done. "And here I was thinking that you simply had followed me for the pleasure of my company! How wrong I was…." Rose sighed melodramatically, fighting to keep her expression straight as Matt glanced between Rose and Shian, who was staring resolutely down at her porridge to hide her face.

"It's not that I don't or didn't like your company Rose. I did – I mean, _do_ – but you were just so much better than…" Matt began, but somehow he knew that it was hardly a good starter for any explanation. Shaking his head, Matt licked his lips as he tried again. "You… um… oh come on! It was second year, _four_ years ago for Christ's sake! It's done… with?" He finished, biting his lip as the spurt of frustration waned in him. "Don't be mad and curse me?"

Rose grinned, reaching over to ruffle his golden hair. "How could I be mad at you Matt?" She enquired, an innocent smile taking place over the grin. "It's not as though you used me for your own unscrupulous purposes and purposely mislead and manipulated my emotions to simply make your life easier on yourself." Rose sighed as Matt's face fell. "Aw Matt, I'm just pulling your leg. Of course I'm not going to curse you. If anything, I'm just going to drag this up in front of _anyone _who dares to pay you a compliment and use it as blackmail. Much better than a silly hex, don't you think?"

Matt seemed to deflate, shoulders sinking as he buried his face into his hands. "Please," he managed to groan out, his voice full of bleak acceptance. "Hex me now. It's a much easier fate than anything else. Just get it over with. I'll even take that hex you found that makes me do ballet every time someone says my name."

"Oh, that one!" Rose could not hold in the giggle. "You mean the hex I made up?" She asked, biting her lip as she made the confession. Shian burst into laughter across the table as Rose's words met her. "To be honest, I did practice it a little on my cousins and Hugo before I used it on you, so, you know, I worked out the kinks. But to begin with, my incantation was pretty strong anyway. The Latin and Ancient Greek roots… those were all spot on. And I guess it wasn't that hard either you know?" Rose continued, falling into a reverie as she mentally ran through the spell in her mind. "Just a kind of derivative from the … oh shoot, what was the spell called? The one where you're constantly dancing? I can't remember… but anyhow, it's just a basic derivative of that, adding a few more words to do restrictions and all such." Rose smiled brightly at Matt, who had looked up from his hands to glare resolutely at her. "You didn't feel too bad after I removed it did you? I never got around to asking you that."

"That's it, I take that back. I don't like you, and I never will. You used one of your own made up hexes on me!" He exclaimed, eyes widening and jaw clenched. "You are without a doubt the strangest person I have ever met Rose Weasley. One moment, I think you're perfectly decent and responsible and the next you're confessing to cursing me with your own made up spells! I rid my hands of you and your wicked, _wicked_ ways!" Matt threw an arm around Rose's shoulders, pulling her down to rub his knuckles into the top of her head, freeing hair. "I think this makes us even, don't you?"

"It was a good hex." Rose maintained as she wriggled out of Matt's grip, her face flushed out of laughter and embarrassment in equal parts. "Now let go of me or we'll be late for class on own first day."

"And that would be such a disaster." Shian noted dryly. "And no you won't anyway. We've still got ten minutes at the very least. Professor Sullers has still got to approve my timetable, remember?" Shian waved her empty timetable in front of Rose's nose. "Damnit, I knew I shouldn't have changed seats, but that second year Slytherin had too much of an obnoxious voice to ignore. They were just going on and on… honestly, did the kid have to talk so loudly? It would have given me a headache if I'd stayed much longer. Annoying kid."

"Who's annoying?" Rose looked up as James, with his unruly dark hair and brown eyes, sat down beside her, pushing a Ravenclaw further along the table to make way from him. More than a few of the Ravenclaws blushed as James took a seat Rose noted, blushed and giggled. He grinned at his cousin, flashing a cheeky smile of pearly white teeth, before turning back to Shian. "I should hope you're not speaking about me. I'd be most hurt if you were Shian, because I thought we were the best of friends all of this time."

Shian arched an eyebrow, her look so perfectly showing her dry disbelief that words were rendered useless. Nevertheless, Shian still spoke to Rose, pointedly ignoring the seventh year Gryffindor. "Yeah, on second thoughts, going now and getting ready for class sounds like a brilliant idea. Give me a second to talk to Professor Sullers." Shian said as she pushed away her bowl of porridge and rose, turning away from them as she wandered down the table to the Ravenclaw head.

"Nice going James, you scared away Shian. Nice to see that your touch with women is still as legendary as it once was." Rose told him flatly, pulling out the band restraining her braid and shaking her hair loose before trying to restrain it once again, shooting a glare quickly to Matt for his making her do it. Satisfying herself with a ponytail, the end of which brushed against her midback, Rose focused once again on James. "So what brings you to the Ravenclaw table? Don't you dare try to tell me that it's just to see me and wish me luck or something, because you barely glanced at me before aggravating Shian. Besides, I know you. Sitting down means you have something serious on your mind." Rose crossed her arms over her chest, studying her cousin intently. He seemed to squirm under her gaze, shifting nervously on the seat.

"Are you still tutoring that Malfoy kid?" James had the unique ability to sneer the word Malfoy while still sounding like a concerned older sibling. Rose sighed, pressing her lips together rather than answer James. "I'll take that as answer then. Look Rosie, I get it. You're the good Samaritan, the charitable type…"

"But let him pass or fail on his own?" Rose finished, her voice cold. They just couldn't see past themselves and their egos long enough to realise that Scorpius wasn't the bad guy of their story, could they? It was always the past history and the family legacies that they saw, not the truth. James should have woken up when she was sorted into Ravenclaw, not Gryffindor, but instead they were all stuck in the same mindset. How tiring. "As the good Samaritan type, you should realise that I can't do that. Right?" Rose asked bluntly. James' silence was enough for her, too much for her. Shaking her head, Rose stood. "Look, I get it. You hate him, you think he's worth nothing and I shouldn't so much as glance his way. I get it. I comprehend. But I'm not going to stop tutoring him just because you think it's a bad idea. He needs help, and I can give it. What's so wrong with that?"

"Rose…" His voice was a plea for understanding. "All I'm saying is that maybe he's not worth the effort. Wait, I mean-"

Rose glanced back at James frostily. "Well, that makes two people I know then. Coming Matt?"

* * *

Rose had finished her fuming at her cousin halfway through first hour study, a period of time she spent doing little except charming a group of paper balls to orbit around Matt's head, occasionally zooming in to successfully hit and distract him from his own forms of procrastination. The other Ravenclaws, both sixth and seventh years, watched on with some amount of glee they tried to hide as Matt attempted to remove the charm, only to result in the parchment alighting and becoming flaming meteors. As Matt finally managed to remove the charm (and clean away what he could of the scorch marks on the floor), he turned to Rose.

"Where did you learn that spell?" He asked incredulously, trying to rub away the soot from his face. He nudged the remains of one parchment ball with a foot, scowling as the parchment crumbled into more ash. "No, let me guess. Your cousin. Was it James? I'm going to kill him if it was you know. I'm practically shedding cinders here."

Rose shook her head, twirling her wand around her fingers, glancing at the fingermarks upon the hazel surface. "No. It was my uncle George. I swear that's where I get my genes for creating spells from. Some of the stuff he can do… well, he's a genius."

Matt raised his eyebrows, but did nothing, only shook more of the ash and debris from himself. "Just what I needed Rose, to be dirty on my first day back. What are the teachers going to think of me?" He asked as he sat down again, opening his copy of Confronting The Faceless with a stubborn look on his face. "Besides, can't you do something else? You just got a present of a magic art book. Draw something. Don't send flaming comets at my head… or is this your way of getting back at me because I maybe used you a little in second year?"

"A little bit of fun, a little bit of revenge." Rose answered, leaning back in her chair. She cast her eyes about the room, taking in the blue and bronze as if she'd never seen it before. "So I think it's quite fair, isn't it? Besides, you did say that you wanted me to hex you. Consider yourself hexed. Happy now?"

Matt absently flicked a small clump of ash at Rose. "No."

Nevertheless, when the two left the Ravenclaw common room for second hour Defence Against the Dark Arts, Matt was smiling and joking with Rose, the incident apparently forgotten. Even when Shian mentioned the presence of the soot and ash in his hair as she joined them outside the classroom, Matt gave little reaction, merely shrugging and greeting her with the usual pleasantries and taking her bulky Arithmancy books out of her arms while she struggled to retrieve the textbooks for their class.

"There's a lot of students for a class." Rose noted as she looked at the assembled crowd. As Defence Against the Dark Arts was a basic class, and one particularly emphasised after the Second Wizarding War, Rose wasn't surprised at the number of people who had applied to take it to N.E.W.T. level, but rather the number of people who were taking it to N.E.W.T. level. "I wonder if it's going to be like this for all of the classes?" She thought aloud.

"You can bet on it." Shian answered as she opened her book bag for Matt. He dropped the Arithmancy book into it, Shian wincing as the weight suddenly pushed against her shoulder. "Thanks Matt, real nice there." She pushed him aside to stand closer to Rose, tucking her wand into a pocket of her robes. "Even Arithmancy was a bigger class than I expected. I guess it's because Hogwarts is getting bigger again… or parents more pushy. One or the other. Either way, there hasn't been a lot of drop outs for our year, which means bigger classes. And… well, it's less than thirty here."

"Morning cousin." Albus swung an arm around Rose, pulling her down to make up for the slight height difference between them. "Shian, Matt. Are you ready to be put through your paces today? I here Professor Ward's N.E.W.T. level students are the most overworked of the bunch."

"Unlikely." Rose countered, thinking of the other Professors. "Professor Vector can run you into the ground and still expect more from you, not to mention that I'm dreading Runes this afternoon, because I know that Professor Sullers is going to load us up with translations and etymology essays. Thank Merlin that the weekend starts tomorrow, right?" Rose toyed with the strap of her book bag. "That being said, Transfiguration at N.E.W.T. level is notoriously hard. I heard even my mother had a hard time with it when she back for her seventh year."

"Yes, and your mother still managed an Outstanding for it, didn't she? Your mother and you are freaky geniuses… please don't make us feel any worse than we already are, okay cousin?" Albus ignored Rose's warning look and pinched her on the cheek. "That's a good girl." Albus peered over Rose's head, grinning as another batch of Gryffindors joined them. Patting Rose on the head in goodbye, he unlinked his arm from around her and went to join his housemates, leaving Rose once again with Shian and Matt. She massaged her neck, rolling her eyes at her cousin.

"And this is the exact reason why I wish half my female cousins were my age." Rose exclaimed in annoyance. "Then there wouldn't be all this arm hugging and throat crushing action going on." She edged closer to the wall of the corridor as she saw Professor Ward limping up the hall, his dark hair laced with silver in his middling age. Stocky and broad, Professor Ward was an imposing sight. Though he lacked a scarred face or an eye patch, the Professor was still menacing in his quiet, serious manner and in his lightning fast reflexes, and the calm way he talked about evils and the Dark Arts.

"All right you lot, get inside the classroom." He ordered, opening the door with a flick of his wand. The class streamed inside, the Slytherin students entering last. Through the faces, Rose saw Scorpius, her heart sinking. Albus and Scorpius in the same room together was never a good combination, and it was more than likely that the two would be in a lot of the same classes together. Albus simply wasn't interested in many other subjects other than those of the core, and Scorpius needed them to become an Auror. At the very least, the subjects were popular, and perhaps Albus would be distracted enough by the lesson and his Gryffindor housemates to not pay too much attention to the Slytherins.

Taking a seat beside Shian towards the front of the class, Rose placed her things down on the table. Quill, parchment, book and wand; she ran through the list mentally, trying to block out the whispers that followed Scorpius in. They were always the same, but insults never were very original in the first place. What's he doing here? Doesn't he realise this is Defence Against the Dark Arts? Stupid Death Eater….

Leaning against his desk at the very front of the room, Professor Ward gave one flick of his wand, the sound of an explosion taking the class by surprise and stunning them into silence. "Now that I have your attention," he began dryly, "I would like to talk to you. All of you have obviously received Exceeds Expectations in this O.W.L. but do not think that this will be enough. The forces out there, in our world, are not going to be of an Acceptable level. As such, when you encounter them, you cannot expect the defeat them easily with a spell or trick. These selfsame forces are tempting and powerful, ones that cannot be defeated but simply hindered. In the same way, those who want to best them must not accept one loss as the end to them. Even an escape is a victory when facing against the Dark Arts. As such, in this class, I will not accept complacency. You will give me your all, turn in your papers and essays on time and you will be attentive and prompt in class. Miss Goldstein – how long has it been since the Second War?"

The blond haired Hufflepuff blushed as she was called upon. "Twenty four years sir."

"Correct." Professor Ward stood up, walking unevenly down the passage between the desks. "Twenty four years since one of the most devastating wars of wizard kind. And what did we learn, do you think Miss Goldstein? Who can wield the Dark Arts?"

"Slytherins." Someone muttered from the right hand side of the classroom. Titters abounded in the room as the word reached them all. Rose closed her eyes, trying to block out the words. Why was it always Slytherins who were blamed for everything? Why was it always them? Wasn't there one Gryffindor, one Ravenclaw, just one who had been tempted and had gave in to it?

"Wrong." Professor Ward slapped his hand on a nearby desk, eyes narrowed at the speaker. "We have learnt that the Dark Arts are not simply wielded by creatures. The Dark Arts are not simply beings but curses and spells and witches and wizards like yourselves. Not one of us is immune to their power, but we must try to be. What defines a good wizard from a bad wizard is not the house they were sorted into, but their choices, their actions. You would do well to remember that, Mr Keddie."

"Yes sir."

Even though the words were loaded with sarcasm, Professor Ward didn't pursue them anymore, turning back to face the front of the classroom and limping back to his desk. For the first time, Rose noticed the writing on the board behind him. N.E.W.T. level Defence Against The Dark Arts: Duelling Basics. Rose frowned at the words. He was going to teach them how to duel?

"Now, we've covered most basic Dark, or at the very least, dangerous creatures in our years, there's no avoiding that. Giants, werewolves, vampires, demifolds, kappas… the basic syllabus. With any luck, later this year, if we have time, we'll go over these creatures, perhaps in more detail. But for now, Dark creatures are covered, as are Dark objects and likewise, protective objects. So where does that leave us to go? Mr Keddie, you seem fond of answering my questions. Answer this one."

John Keddie looked up from his desk to stare at Professor Ward, biting his lip as his eyes searched for answers. How in the name of Merlin had he gotten into the class? Rose knew that John was reasonably talented – he was especially good at Transfiguration, but he barely ever paid real attention to anyone. "Duelling, sir?" John guessed finally, smiling winningly at Professor Ward.

"How very astute of you Mr Keddie. Yes, duelling. And no Mr Potter, we will not be duelling today, so please, place your wand back into your bag." Professor Ward sighed, pointing his wand at the board. A piece of chalk immediately began to write. "Duelling is the most basic concept when it comes to two wizards, or witches, fighting. A one on one combat in which all you have is your reflexes and knowledge of your craft. For this term, we will be focusing on duelling, on how you can gain advantage over another, how you can read their moves, how you can attack with minimal risk to yourself. Duelling is not an art, and it is not a sport, but if you are to be truly prepared to face the Dark Arts, you must be prepared to fight. Now, if you would, please copy down what is written on the board before opening your copy of Confronting The Faceless to chapter twelve, Duelling Basics."

As the other students dutifully opened their books, and Albus stowed away his wand with a look of utter disappointment on his face, Rose glanced around. In the back row, closest to the door as if all they wanted to do was make their escape, was Cody and Scorpius. Cody looked furious, her hand crushing her quill as she wrote, while Scorpius merely looked blank, as if all emotion and thought had been taken from him. But Rose knew better. It was his poker face, the one he put on so no one knew what he felt, or if and how each word and judgement hit him. Pressing her lips together, Rose turned back to her work.

* * *

"Hello Rose."

Rose started at the sound, looking up from her textbook to glance around her. For a moment, the sunlight blinded Rose, a silhouette dark against the brightness all that Rose could see of the speaker. Blinking once, twice, Rose assembled her mind together, piecing together the sound of the voice, the outline of the figure, until she had a person conjured in her mind. Sliding a ribbon into the binding of the book, Rose marked her page and closed the book, shuffled along the bench to make room for Cody.

"What brings you here?" Rose asked as Cody sat down. Cody appeared to be staring stubbornly ahead, hardly even acknowledging Rose's presence. "I thought you'd be … I don't know. Eating lunch. It is lunch time, after all." She fingered with the hem of her robe, trying not to feel the awkwardness of the silence between the two of them. What a strange and uncomfortable picture they would have made, Rose thought to herself, one girl, pale and red haired, a blush in her cheeks, fiddling with her robes as another girl, dark and sharp eyed, was gazing into space, and that wasn't even taking into account that it was Cody Bennet sitting with Rose.

"Lunch is almost over. Thought I'd come and see you. Because we have Care of Magical Creatures next. A double."

It was a measure of Cody's inner strength that she neither appeared unnerved or discomforted by the situation, or of her stubborn nature. Maybe even both. "Yeah. A double. I remember that. Excited about it?"

Rose knew she was rambling, but she couldn't stop herself. She needed to fill the chasm of silence with something and even her drivel was better than nothing. She could imagine every word spilling out of her mouth and cramming itself in every nook and crevice between the two of them.

"Should I be?" Cody glanced at Rose from the corner of her eyes, mouth down turned and brow slightly furrowed, before resuming to stare ahead as if nothing had happened. Rose opened her mouth, trying to think of something to say in answer, but no words came to her. Cody was a mystery, an enigma, something cloaked in shadows that Rose couldn't see beyond. But somehow Rose knew that she had seen something in Cody that not everyone did. Swallowing, Rose dropped her robe, turning on the seat to face Cody, clutching the textbook on her lap.

Even without any noticeable thought or emotion on Cody's face, she still seemed to carry a look of strength and ferocity. It was in her cheekbones and jaw line, and the harsh bun her hair was pulled back into, like she had been too angry and too impatient to do it right. "You found a question I can't answer." Rose smiled wryly at the thought. "Do you like the subject?"

Cody shrugged, leaving Rose mystified. Was that the truth, or just something to block her out? Most likely the latter… no, most definitely the second. Cody was only talking to her because few others would in their shared class. Slytherins disliked her, many others hated her but Rose didn't, and that was enough. Humans were pack animals at their most primal form – loneliness was hardly anything that anyone would enjoy or undertake of their own free will, especially when there was another option. Rose was that other option for Cody.

"Are you still tutoring Scorpius?"

Rose laughed shortly, the laugh mirthless. "That seems to be the question of the day, doesn't it? First James, now you… what, you going to tell me he's not worth my effort too?"

Cody turned her head, frowning as she studied Rose with her dark eyes. Something about Cody's gaze unsettled Rose, made her feel guilty and shamed for speaking out as she had. There was no judgement in Cody's eyes, and that was what made it worse, because all Rose could see was a weary acceptance of her words, as if they were truth and not just the opinion of one arrogant cousin of hers.

Cody blinked, shaking her head. "I wasn't going to say that, no, but I can if you prefer." Cody offered, sounding neither flat nor mocking, simply emotionless. "I was going to say that it's actually doing him… good. He's been… better since you two have been able to talk more. I'm not saying I like you, or like you being around. I'm just saying that he's… been better." Cody looked down, looking at her fingernails as though they were the most amazing thing in the world. "Not as depressed. And not as ridiculously stupid at Runes either, so there's another point to you."

Rose managed a small, quiet laugh. "Glad to see I could make a difference there at least. Professor Sullers would have killed me if he'd still been just as bad when it came to the O.W.L.s last year."

The silence fell again, thick and heavy. Part of the silence felt guilty to Rose, like it pressed down on her. The memory of the morning's Defence Against the Dark Arts class was like a weight on her chest, crushing the air out of her lungs. "How is he?" Rose asked quietly. "After this morning I mean. Keddie was just being a git you know. He probably didn't mean it."

Cody caught the lie easily, scoffing at the statement. "He meant exactly what he said. They all do. It's just the way that it is, and you or I can't change it, even if we want to." Cody looked at Rose again, a small smile pulling up the corner of her mouth. It softened her face, making her look less fierce, more approachable. "But thanks for the concern. Scorpius… he's not happy, but I think he's trying not to let it get to him. He hates it, and let's face it, who wouldn't, but he's not going to let the bastards stop him from becoming an Auror."

Rose opened her mouth to reply, but closed it as the bell rang, signalling the end of lunch. Standing up, she offered her hand to Cody, who brushed it away as if she wasn't even there. Rose wasn't disappointed or saddened in the slightest – Cody had made it perfectly clear that she held Rose in no favourable esteem. Rose didn't quite understand Cody's reasons for being so cool towards her, as Rose had done nothing to her in her own memory, but she accepted it without question. Just as some liked her for the mere fact that her parents were on Chocolate Frogs cards (there was always someone who stated proudly that they had at least six sets of the trio), some hated her for it. Her parents had made enemies, and those enmities had been passed on through the bloodlines.

Stowing her book back into her bag, Rose swung it onto her shoulders once again. Some days, Rose thought the book bag was more of an extension of herself than anything else, and a heavy one at that. Walking down the cobblestones of the courtyard, Rose did not note aloud that Cody was keeping in step with her, the shorter girl seeming to be doing so not out of any intent, but just out of coincidence. Smiling to herself, Rose kept her face down to hide her grin from sight and ploughed onwards towards the meeting place for all Care of Magical Creatures lessons – Hagrid's Hut.

"You two were friends before last year, right?"

Rose raised her head in surprise at the sudden question. Though Cody proclaimed to not like Rose at all, she certainly seemed intent enough to know more about her. Looking (slightly down) at Cody, she nodded. Cody appeared to have her curiosity sated, as she nodded and glanced away. The silence continued as they walked out of the courtyard and down the stone pathway to the Hut, the forest beyond it creeping into view as they descended down the hill and approached the end of the trail. Just before the last turn of the path towards the Hut, a hand reached out and grasped Rose by her wrist. Rose jumped, brought out of her musings by the sudden contact, and raised her eyes again.

It was simply Cody's hand wrapped around hers, in neither a menacing nor threatening way, just as if she was trying to gather Rose's attention or stop her before she walked away.

Cody bit her lip, looking at Rose for a moment before she spoke. "And when did you two start talking? He never told me. Before last year, I think."

"Second year." Rose answered honestly, a small grin on her lips as she remembered. "The first time I asked him if I could get by. It was in Herbology and he was holding up the line for cuttings. I remember feeling so scared in case Albus, or worse yet, James found out. We became somewhat friends in third year. We were both in the library, studying." Rose could remember it still, the murmured conversations and the constant prickling on her neck that made her feel paranoid at every noise. He had laughed at her, at her silliness. That had been the start of it, because his laugh had made Rose feel like she wasn't awkward and wasn't doing something wrong. Because it made her feel like she was already a friend to him.

Cody nodded, her hand still on Rose's arm, holding her back as the beginning of the class began to move past them, occasionally looking back at them with slight interest. "It always the library, wasn't it? Because it was the only place where you both wouldn't be attacked for being near each other."

Rose nodded. "Yeah. Albus just thought it was coincidence, which it was in the beginning, and they didn't go off at Scorpius. Or me for that matter. Though at that age, they were a little bit more reasonable then they are now." Rose admitted, jaw clenching in frustration. Instead of growing more mature, Albus and James simply seemed to be getting less. "Why do you want to know, Cody? Not that you can't, it's just that before today, you've never really shown any interest before. In anything to do with me. At all."

Cody shrugged, taking her hand from Rose's arm. "Well, seeing as I'm your friend by association, if not your friend, I guess I should understand the links between us, Scorpius, and that relationship. Don't you think? It's logical enough for a Ravenclaw, isn't it?"

Rose sighed, rubbing her fingers into her temples. Because of course everything had to boil down to logic if someone was a Ravenclaw! Because of course she couldn't just be a normal person who was more than just a little curious! Rose loved being a Ravenclaw – truly, she did – but she hated the idea that everything with her had to be able to be dissected into reason and statistics, like she was cold and unfeeling and could only be persuaded by cold, undisputable fact. Once, Rose had read a Muggle book – Hard Times by Charles Dickens if she could remember correctly – in which those who were full of facts lived soulless and emotionless lives. Rose had no intention of living such a bleak life, and the idea that it was all she would ever have horrified her beyond what words could describe.

"Come on you two." Thomas's face appeared in front of Rose's eyes, beaming at her. He turned his wide smile to Cody, who returned it with a hard, unimpressed expression. "We don't want to keep Professor Hagrid waiting for his favourite students on the first day."

"I'm sure Albus is already at the Hut, if that's what you're getting at." Rose replied dryly. Thomas rolled his eyes, his face portraying such exasperation that Rose almost felt guilty for her comment.

"Let's face it, Hagrid likes you just as much, if not more, than Albus. You, at the very least, like animals more than Albus and they like you more too. But that's not the point. Now smile Rose and come along... we can't keep the whole class waiting forever."

Inhaling deeply, Rose attempted to brighten her face as they strode towards Hagrid's hut. The half-giant wizard was still as hale as ever, but whether that was due to his giant blood or unassailable optimism, Rose didn't know. In any case, the only provision given to Hagrid in his maturing age was an assistant, the Professor Dyanne, a spirited young man who had formerly been a high ranking member in the Department for Control and Regulation of Magical Beasts before his restless mind had taken him from the desk and into Hogwarts. For a short period of time, Rose had harboured a slight crush towards the Professor. In particular, there was one class caught in Rose's mind, when Hagrid was otherwise engaged (she had had it straight from Uncle Charlie that Hagrid had come to the dragon colony Charlie worked at to see Noberta, a Norwegian Ridgeback that somehow Uncle Harry, Ron and Hermione found the mention of remarkably humorous) that the Professor Dyanne had taught them of unicorns. Unicorns preferred the feminine touch to that of males, and he called her out to lure the unicorns with handfuls of oats and carrots. The brief moment when it was just her and the unicorn, it's silvery white mane and her own red hair mingling in the breeze, had captivated her and somehow, Rose always attributed the magic of it to the Professor Dyanne.

"Rose!" Albus called as the small group came to a halt in front of the hut. He sent one glower to Cody, and a questioning glance to Thomas, before beaming at his cousin. "Why is it that I'm rarely seeing you this year?" He demanded as he took her by the tops of her arm and dragged her into the very centre of the Gryffindors. Around her, Albus's housemates grinned at her, some leaning forward to murmur a few words in her ears. Glancing back at Thomas, Rose shrugged, trying to convey her thoughts into the one expression. From Thomas's own expression, Rose could see his reply – you just have to deal with it Rose, it happens to you more than enough. Cody, for her part, did not look impressed at all.

"Hmm," Rose pretended to think for a moment, tapping a finger on her chin. "So, apart from the fact that it's the first day of school... what a tough question. Tell me Albus, couldn't it be because most of the time you're with your Gryffindor friends, and I'm with my Ravenclaw friends and in between that, it's that I'm either eating, or in my house or the library, which you never frequent?" Rose suggested with a laugh. Albus shrugged, his green eyes portraying perfect nonchalance as he raked a hand through his hair. In many ways, the two Potter brothers were so similar, both confident, if not arrogant, talented, gifted fliers... yet they refused to be likened to each other. Rose raised her eyebrows at Albus, motioning for her to stand beside him and the dark skinned Megan Thomas. Megan gave Rose a slight wave, motioning to move closer, and further into the circle of Gryffindors.

"Well, we'll just have to change that, won't we? I suggest that you come and sit with us every class... Merlin knows it would actually do me some good some days... especially if I want to pass these N.E.W.T.s. And you wouldn't want to be at least partly to blame for my dream of being an Auror crashing around me, would you?" Albus gave a sad pout, but his eyes spoke of complete merriment, knowing, without any questioning needed, that he looked completely ridiculous. "So, dear, darling cousin of mine, what do you say to helping me out? I promise I'll be good and do everything you say."

"Including shutting up every now and again?" Rose interrupted with a sly grin.

Albus gave no sign as to hearing her. "And I think you would be the best person for the job. I hear you're a brilliant tutor. At the very least, you managed to scrape Malfoy an O.W.L. in Ancient Runes, and considering what I've heard about his intellect, that's no mean feat. And I can introduce you to all kinds of amusing people. Like Cathal MacDougal -"

"Who I already know, remember? As I am a prefect, and he is the Head Boy. We'd be bound to come across each other every now and again. Not to mention the fact that we're in the same house and all."

Albus's shoulders slumped. "Then how am I to convince you to spend more time with me if you already have everything I have to bargain with?" Albus made a show of being distraught, causing laughter amongst his friends. "You just don't actually want to be around me, is that it? You think you Ravenclaws are just too good for us lowly Gryffindors..."

Rose sighed, bumping Albus with her hip, unable to keep a small grin from her face. "Now if only Godric Gryffindor was known for his humility as well as his daring and chivalry, then I might finally have some peace and quiet from you." Megan giggled beside Rose, finding the banter between the two amusing. "Now Albus, I've got to get back to my friends. And look, the professors are coming."

"Just bring Thomas over here," Albus ordered, rolling up the sleeves of his shirt. His red and gold tie fluttered in the slight breeze outside. "We're all friends here. There's never been any enmity between our two, wait, three houses... except when Quidditch comes along, but that's understandable seeing as how utterly excellent my team is."

"You're really quite proud of making captain, aren't you?" Rose noted, unable to stop herself from grinning wider as Albus seemed to swell, the Quidditch Captain badge glinting in the light. Rolling her eyes, Rose tried and move through the Gryffindors to come close to the others once again. "But no, it's not just Thomas, Cody's there too, and you don't particularly get along well with Slytherins if my memory serves."

"Okay, Rosie, I know you've got this motherly compassion thing going for you, and it's awesome, but hanging out with Cody?" Albus muttered incredulously as Professor Hagrid came to a halt in front of the group and clapped his hands to collect their attention. "The girl's a psychopath. And I swear she never smiles. Or laughs. Or anything that remotely suggests emotional depth at all. Why would you want to hang out with someone like that? And don't give me that look, I'm even ignoring the fact that she's a Slytherin here, and you know what prats they all are."

Rose wanted to respond, but words failed her. Instead, she simply stepped backwards, halfway in between the two groups, and looked at the Professor. Professor Hagrid hadn't changed at all during the summer – from the huge height to his bushy tangled hair and sincere, booming voice, he was all the same to Rose. Rose supposed, being wizard and giant, Hagrid would benefit from both, aging slower, living longer, a thought Rose was only too pleased with. With Hagrid positively beamed down at his class from his height, motioning the group in closer, Rose felt like there could be nothing happier or more familiar to her.

"I'm glad yeh all decided ter continue on wit' the subject," he said the words as if the group had surprised him with a birthday party and pet dragon, rather than just continue on with the subject. "It's gunna be a good year fer yeh lot, I got some real beauties fer yeh all. An' no Liam, before yeh ask, it ain't nuthin' that's gunna bite yeh. If yeh listen." There was a general chuckle through the crowd as Megan Thomas ruffled Liam Finnigan's hair playfully. A red blush rose in his cheeks as he pushed her hands away.

"Now, I've bin savin' these fer yeh lot. Fer the first term, we're gunna look at air borne creatures," Hagrid motioned them forward yet again as he began to walk towards the Forbidden Forest. "Come on yeh lot, move along now. Fer first term, it's the air we'll be lookin' at. Winged horses, griffins, mebbe even a phoenix if everythin' goes well. Next term, it's inter the water! kelpies, Mers, hippocampi and if the Mers don't mind, we'll nip in ter see the Grindylows, Then we've got all our other creatures in Britain ter study for the final term, like Jarveys, Mokes and Mackled Malaclaws. Next year, we'll get inter the other animals 'round the world, the ones in Africa are the best yeh'll ever see, mark me, and we'll talk 'bout the more dangerous ones, dragons an' manticores an' the like. We wouldn't want to put anyone near 'em, would we, 'specially not Liam Finnigan here. More likely to set 'em on fire then make friends wit' 'em."

"So what are we studying today?" Liam called out as the group followed Hagrid further into the forest, the Professor Dyanne bringing up the rear. He tipped his hat at Rose as he swept past her, the hem his dark green robes trailing in the grass. In her mind, Rose ran through the options. Augureys perhaps, or even a revisit of the Hippogriffs that were ever so popular in fifth year, or Glumbumbles, though they hardly counted as belonging to the air, or a Jobberknoll. Rose was intrigued by Jobberknolls, there was no denying that, but Hagrid was hardly likely to kill a Jobberknoll just to show the class the bird like creature spouting all the sounds the mute creature had heard in it's life.

"Yeh'll see, yeh'll see." Hagrid answered enigmatically as the class came through into a clearing, occupied only by a carcass. A few of the students faked retching as Rose passed them, pushing her way to the front, looking at Hagrid with bewilderment on her face, but he paid her no heed. Glancing up, Rose tried to think of what they could be studying – griffins? Surely not, it was far too early in the year. Sighing, Rose tried to assemble herself together, taking in the details of the surrounding. The sun peeked through the canopy of leaves above them, mottling the class shadowed and bright all at once. They weren't far into the forest – if Rose looked behind herself, she could still see the brightness that showed the end of the forest – but they were deep enough. Rose hardly wanted to go much deeper into the Forbidden Forest; the rumours of what hid in between the trees and undergrowth was enough to strike fear into even the most courageous of hearts. "Now, let's git somethin' clear wit' yeh lot. In N.E.W.T. level Care o' Magical Creatures, yeh're gunna see creatures yeh didn't think yeh would, or tha' yeh should, 'cause they're unlucky or some such nonsense. But I reckon, a creature is jus' a creature an' everythin' else is jus' claptrap. Years and years ago, I introduced a class ter this creature, and everyone thought tha' they were nuthin' short o' horrible, but yeh gotta let go o' what yeh think a creature should be if yeh want ter learn. Yeh agree Silas?"

Professor Dyanne nodded, skirting around the edge of the class to join Hagrid at the front. "Just because an animal has a bad reputation, doesn't mean it's bad. Look here at Hagrid. He's half giant, and who thinks he's vicious?" Both Professors smiled as no hands were raised, only looks of contained anger at the thought being exchanged. "Exactly my point. Just because you've heard something, doesn't make it true. Making something infamous is worse if it's unjustified, and you've got to look past it. Now, to answer your question Liam, today we'll be studying Thestrals. Of the creatures immediately available on your first day, I'd have to say the Thestrals, being hand raised and trained by Professor Hagrid, are perhaps the safest."

Nodding to himself, Professor Hagrid gave a shrieking call into the forest. Something about the call, strange and screeching as it was, was melodic in the most basic way Rose could imagine. Hagrid repeated the call twice more as Professor Dyanne started an explanation of the basic properties of the Thestral breed of winged horse, but Rose heard him as if he were far away. All she could see was the Thestrals entering the clearing, munching on the carcass Hagrid had left for them, their skeletal frame and black skin strangely mesmerising to Rose. She had seen the Thestrals since she had come to Hogwarts, but seeing them so close, without the carriages on their backs… somehow it was more than just seeing them, but more like she was finally understanding them. Seeing her gaze solely on the Thestrals, Hagrid edged closer to her, placing a scrap of meat in Rose's hands and motioning, with a nod of his head, for her to move closer to the horse like creatures. Where others staring at her? Looking at her strangely as she approaching the knobbliest of the Thestrals? It was the smallest, barely grazing the shoulders of the other Thestral it stood close to, it's coat seeming to be lighter than all the others, a touch of grey imbued in the black rather than the inky darkness of the others. Even it's wings seemed to look different from the others, more translucent, more fragile, like if Rose touched them, they would crumble under the pressure.

Rose offered the meat with her hand flat to the Thestral. It was a foal, she realised with a jolt, or a yearling. Young, definitely not fully grown. The adult Thestral beside it breathed hard, pushing the foal out of the way to sniff at Rose. It's mouth pushed against her hair, the very tips of the fangs raking through curls. As if from a distance, Rose heard gasps from the class behind her, but she was too enthralled to care. Scenting no threat, the Thestral returned to the carcass, the foal sniffing at Rose's hand again. With it's fangs, small and barely formed, it picked up the strip of meat and ate it, chewing a few times before swallowing. In a move that shocked Rose, it licked her hand, trying to pick up the last flavours and juices left from the movement. Patting the strange texture of the fleshless coat, feeling each bone underneath the dark hair, Rose smiled, stepping closer to the foal.

"So, as you can obviously tell, Rose can see Thestrals." Professor Dyanne announced. Hearing her name, Rose looked up, her hands still absently stroking the Thestral. "Now, these Thestrals, they're not vicious or savage as Professor Hagrid will tell you. They are, in many ways, just as smart as owls. They have a keen sense of direction, can find almost any place and, like their normal counterparts in horses, they can carry loads, such as the school carriages, though nothing too extremely heavy, unlike Abraxans. Thestrals can fly as well – imagine bat wings on a horse, and you get a sort of image of what a Thestral looks like. They can fly for long journeys, supporting someone on their back, but I would say that these wouldn't be the best bet for a journey. Now, as Emily said, those who can see Thestrals can do so because they have witnessed a death. An interesting part to this is that Thestrals only become visible when the death is accepted. Say, if I was to die tomorrow in front of you all, from the shock of it all, I would say that very few of you would immediately see Thestrals. However, given time, you would. Just a little handy fact."

"But sir," Megan called out, "if someone who sees death can see Thestrals, why can't Muggles see them?"

Hagrid beamed at Megan. "The Ministry requires all owners o' winged horses ter put Disillusionment charms on 'em all regularly, otherwise it would be summat ter worry 'bout!" Hagrid exclaimed with a laugh. "Now, as yeh see, Thestrals eat meat, unlike any o' the other winged horses. They like their meat, yeh can always win one wit' a bit o' choice meat, like Rose is. 'Cause they eat meat and yeh only see 'em if yeh've seen someone die, there's a superstition 'bout Thestrals, which ain't true. This infamy 'bout Thestrals makes yeh think if yeh see one, yeh're gunna die an' it means tha' many of yeh are gunna have nightmares tonight. Thestrals are feared 'cause o' some silly reasons, an' not many are willin' to see tha' they're jus' as useful as any other winged horse. Now, would any of yeh like ter come forward an' touch one o' 'em?"

"Even though we can't see them?"

Hagrid nodded as Albus stepped forward, winking at Rose. "Even though yeh can't see 'em. Take it as a leap o' faith – yeh don't get somethin' for nuthin'."

Rose stepped forward and grabbed Albus by the wrist, leading him towards the foal. He seemed strangely reluctant to step forward, as if he thought he would immediately crash into a Thestral. Tugging at his arm impatiently, Rose guided it to the hide of the Thestral, murmuring under her breath what Rose saw to explain what Albus felt. A grin stole across his face.

"Merlin Rose, this feels so… strange! What… what's that?"

Rose laughed. "That's the wing, and be careful. It's only a young one you're touching. You don't want to harm his wings before he has a chance to test them out." She directed Albus's hand further up the neck of the Thestral and down the head of the foal, which looked at the two students with curiosity. Albus exhaled in a rush as he felt what his eyes couldn't see, the strange, sharp shape of the Thestral's head, the dragon like structure to it.

"By Merlin Rose, you're drawing me a picture of what you see when you look at these later." Albus ordered before turning back to the crowd. "Hugh, Megan, Liam, get your asses out here right now. This is just so…." Words failed Albus as the foal nudged at his hand, looking for meat. Rose laughed as he yanked his hand back in sudden fright as he felt the foal's fangs graze against his skin. "Rose! What in the name of Merlin and Circe was that?"

Rose forcibly pushed Albus's hand back to the Thestral foal. "It was just it's fangs. Relax, they don't eat Gryffindor keepers. Often." She added slyly as she edged away from the foal to pat what Rose assumed to be it's dam. Slowly throughout the lesson, guided by Rose, Hagrid and, surprisingly, the usually invisible Hufflepuff Celestes Porter, other students found their way to Thestrals, feeding small scraps of meat to them, shrieking in either surprise, shock or laughter at the absurdity of the situation. As the end of the lesson approached, Hagrid picked up the last remains of the carcass and slung it over his shoulder, leading the class out of the forest and assembling them once more outside his cabin.

"Now, how many of yeh have done some Divination or summat like it?" He asked as Professor Dyanne began to dispose of the last remains of the carcass, which consisted mostly of the bare bones of the animal.

There was a general raising of hands of, perhaps, a quarter of the class. Nodding again, Hagrid raised his hands and waved them about absently, as if he was batting away the raised arms of class. "Then I reckon yeh've all heard tha' Thestrals are omens o' death. Tha's jus' a superstition, which many a good witch or wizard has accepted as true, which it ain't. So I 'pect yeh all to tell 'em all tha' Thestrals don't bring death ter yeh, right? Have I got yer word?"

There was laughter from the class as they nodded and swore that, on the first possible instant, they would squash the myth and superstition. Satisfied, Hagrid released them just as the bell rang. As soon as he had turned away, Rose seemed to be surrounded by classmates.

"Who did you see die Rose?"

They all seemed to demand the answer from her at the same moment – she was the only one with the mystery. Everyone knew that Celestes had been the one with her grandmother when she had died of old age the previous year, and Hagrid had taken part in the Second Wizarding War. It was the death Rose had witnessed that brought her attention. Her mind vaguely wandered to the word infamy. Famous for all the wrong reasons… smiling at the thought that she might be infamous (the shy, quiet Rose was infamous! How absurd!), Rose was instantly sobered as the question was thrown at her again. Who did you see die Rose? Glancing away from the questioning faces and pushing the memories from her mind, Rose saw a Gryffindor shoulder Cody out of their way, glaring daggers at her.

There were many ways to infamous, and none of them were pleasant.

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_Disclaimer: all of this ultimately belongs to J.K. Rowling (characters, setting, the world, basically everything you recognise). The plot, the writing – that's mine. No stealing. I have a man eating giant bunny on loan to track you down and gobble you. You have been warned._

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**A/N:**

Sorry for the long delay – for those of you who don't know, I'm in my final year of high school in Australia, and that's all kinds of stressful. I haven't been writing much (of Ashwinder) because of exams and then NaNoWriMo – which I won. Whoo!

So, yeah. That's why I haven't been writing. It's understandable, right?

Just a further note, in the interest of keeping things as canon as possible, I've made a few _slight _changes to names and descriptions. LORCAN Scamander is now the Gryffindor twin, while LYSANDER is now the Ravenclaw twin. And Hugo's a redhead. I'm not even sure that I mentioned that he was going to be any different, but anyway… If that confuses you, go re-read the first two chapters. They're edited accordingly! =) But, now I've done all the research I think I need, so hopefully it's smooth sailing from here.

Thanks to **AuntLynnie**, **swimchick1614** and **Thais Uchiha** for the story alerts. I'll try to be quicker next time.

Feel free to watch, review, hate, flame, be a ghostie, or ignore. But no stealing.

xx

Ghost.


	4. The Wrong Choices

**Chapter Four. The Wrong Choices**

It didn't take Rose long to settle into a comfortable rhythm once more. Her days were filled with classes, during which she often tried to avoid being roped into spending every second with her always enthusiastic cousin and his Gryffindor friends (somehow she was considered more of an honorary Gryffindor than a Ravenclaw, so the difference in houses appeared to matter little to any of her cousins) and actually learn some of what she was taught. Rose's only relief came in the study periods she had with Matt, who was quite content to let Rose do her work in silence. Even Ancient Runes, as much as Rose loved the subject, was tense. The smaller class number had meant that Alexis was forced to acknowledge Scorpius existed in her world, something that Alexis attributed directly to Rose.

But, as if to compensate for Rose's complete lack of spare time, each and every class was filled with subjects and topics that interested Rose from the very first moment. Professor Ward's Defence Against the Dark Arts classes, though mostly consisting of the theory of duelling, as he was unwilling to start practicals so early in the school year, were detailed and thorough. Rose had always known that duelling was part instinct, part strategy, but it had never truly occurred to her that there was so much strategy that could be employed against another wizard. Lulling others into a false sense of comfort, faking moves… each move of an opponent could be either one's saviour or downfall. Even more interesting was Ancient Runes, in which Professor Sullers had started to hand out actual tablets of runes written centuries ago in a term long project. Lessons in the Potions chambers were, as usual, touch and go. Though the mixtures and solutions were far more advanced, the results of such attempts varied between nauseating and euphoria inducing in their effects – some of which had caused the evacuation of the dungeons while Professor Bettony had taken care of the situation.

Care of Magical Creatures showed Hagrid to be a superb teacher, spending another lesson on Thestrals, allowing the bravest to ride the accommodating horses while the more timid began to learn of the more in depth knowledge of the Thestral beast, from its preferred diet (beef had been found to be favourite) to the life cycle of the Thestral. Rose, after much prompting from Albus, had climbed aboard the Thestral and taken flight. The journey was not what Rose would call comfortable, but the short leap into the sky had made Rose's heart soar and blood race around her body in excitement. Herbology, even with its flesh eating trees in Greenhouse six and Defence Against the Dark Arts with its occasional jinxing, had nothing against the rush that was flying with the Thestrals. It was _more_ than flying a broomstick, because Rose could feel the beating heart of the horse underneath her, and the flap of the wings. It wasn't just Rose on a broomstick – it was just a girl riding a Thestral and truly experiencing what the feeling of flight truly was. It wasn't the rush of looking down and seeing trees, but the rush of air against her face and the wind catching the sounds of birds and Thestrals and mingling them in her ears.

Brushing a charcoal stained finger across the page of her artbook, Rose shaded the Thestral's coat a dark colour. She could almost see the Thestral flying through the clouds behind it, air puffing out through its nose like a small patch of fog. Was that the magic of the book, or just the tiredness getting to her? It was late, past midnight late, but Rose didn't mind. She had always had been a night owl, liking to watch the stars rather than the sunrises. For all she had complained of astronomy, Rose had never had trouble staying up late enough to take part in the class – it was more the fact that the class required her to remember and learn at midnight, which was a stretch, even for her. Rose could stay up til the sun came up in the morning, provided she was doing anything but studying and working. Draw, read, both she could do until she dropped out of sheer exhaustion, but never before.

"Almost done," Rose whispered to herself as she grabbed for an eraser, trying to get the highlights on the coat right. The white eyes of the Thestral were perfect, maybe because they were only small, and her body was proportionate in the picture – the only failing Rose could see was the highlights. Somehow, the highlights she had already drawn in didn't match the position of the sun, though _technically_ Rose could see no fault with them. Sighing as she bent closer to the book again, Rose shaded again, meticulously picturing the moment in her mind when she had looked around herself on the flight. Pausing the memory inside her mind, Rose built it up, imagining stepping back as grey pencil strokes completed the scene before they merged seamlessly into the memory. Trying to project the somewhat-memory onto the picture, Rose carefully put the pencil to paper and traced a series of thin, short lines, overlaying some over others to achieve the right depth within the image. Finally happy with the picture in front of her, Rose reached for her wand and placed the tip against the centre of the image.

"_Munero animus_," she whispered. The tip of the wand glowed, a small bright orb shimmering where the page and wand met before sinking into page. The book glowed for a moment, illuminated from within, before returning to its original state, the only difference being the Thestral and girl of the drawing springing to life, flying through the clouds, a memory preserved by Rose's own hand. She smiled at the girl as she gasped, clutching at the mane of the Thestral.

"Very impressive Rose. Your talents have grown." The Grey Lady said from behind her. Rose tilted her head back to see the ghost, and smile up at her in return. The Grey Lady, the daughter of Rowena Ravenclaw herself, was always a sight to see. Though she lacked the easy amiability of Nearly Headless Nick and the joviality of the Fat Friar, the Grey Lady's easy grace and mysterious, knowledgeable smile was enough to endear Rose to her.

"There's nothing a summer of relative boredom can't do for talents." Rose replied with a grin, closing the artbook and gathering her pencils and charcoal sticks together. "I almost missed the homework load during the holidays. It's amazing the feelings one gets once the O.W.L.s are completed." Rose pressed the artbook and charcoal sticks firmly onto the couch she sat, stretched the cramped muscles from their position, releasing her legs from their drawn up arrangement. "But of course, now all I have to look forward to are the N.E.W.T.s of course. Tell me, does it ever get easier? You've seen countless students take exams after exams... does it ever get easier?"

The Grey Lady sat down beside Rose, as much as a ghost could sit. The pearly sheen she gave off seemed to be some kind of strange, dim light in the darkness, glowing barely brighter than the embers in the fire. "In what way? If you're asking if these tests and tribulations you face in life become easier, I would say not. Though, I suppose, I don't think I truly lived long enough to answer. True wisdom is admitting that sometimes you have none to give. Or so my mother said." A sad look flitted across the Grey Lady's face, but she wiped it away before Rose could mention it. "In many ways, nothing is ever easier for nothing is ever harder than anything else. It is all complicated and challenging, all in different ways. The only difference is in how one looks at it and how one chooses to take responsibility for it and act upon it. _That_ I have learnt in these years of being a mere spectre." The Grey Lady smiled down at Rose, motioning around herself, this time, not bothering to keep the sad, wistful expression from her face. "Being a ghost, I think, is just as hard as facing the unknown of what lies after death. I chose to remain, and now I must live on, a mere shadow, while those I loved most in the world have gone on without me."

"You have the Bloody Baron." Rose reminded her quietly. The Grey Lady's hand wandered, unconsciously, to the dark stain on her clothing, the wound the Baron had given her all those years ago. Ghosts couldn't feel, Rose knew that, but she could still see the remembered pain in the Grey Lady's eyes. They couldn't feel, or taste, or smell... but they could remember doing so. The agony of the mere memories would be exquisite, a true torture. "Maybe you two can reconcile with each other. It would make living in the same school at least more bearable for the both of you."

"The Bloody Baron and I chose this path long ago. It is too late to turn back it to walk another. Just as he will wear his chains of penance for the rest of eternity, so too will I bear the wounds of his actions as penance for my own. Nothing less is acceptable." The Grey Lady replied evenly. She glanced out a wide window, eyes cast upwards into the stars.

"Do you hate all Slytherins then?" Rose asked. The Grey Lady frowned as she returned her attention to Rose, her face gathering itself up into a more guarded expression, the haughtiness Rose had seen in her first year returning like a shadow across the ghost's face. "Because of what they did to you. All it takes is one of them to damn the rest. I wouldn't blame you."

"One of them?" The Grey Lady became more opaque, if that were possible, as if white, gleaming blood was gathering in her cheeks.

Rose nodded. "Yes, the Bloody Baron. He murdered you, remember?"

The Grey Lady looked flustered for a moment, her expressions fading until all that remained was one of a pensive nature. "I don't suppose I _hate_ them. It would... unfair, to them as a whole. The Bloody Baron isn't Slytherin and Slytherin is not him. They are each a part, but never the whole of the other. But I don't suppose I trust them or especially like them after my experiences. Maybe because they remind me of me." The Grey Lady's voice shrunk to a mere whisper. "I so wanted to be better than my mother, more important, more known, that I stole her diadem." The Grey Lady stood, floating over to the bust of Rowena Ravenclaw. She reached out, the tips of her fingers sinking into the statue of her mother. "Which seems to me, to be cunning and seeking my own end, like a Slytherin. Perhaps, if I had belonged there, history would not have found itself to be where it is today. Things, all things, would be different. There would be no lost diadem, no Grey Lady, no Bloody Baron and then... maybe..." Her voice trailed off, a mere hint of wistfulness in her voice.

"You would have moved on?" Rose suggested. The words seemed so blunt, so tactless, but Rose knew of no other way to approach it. She stood, walking over towards the bust, focusing not on the Grey Lady but upon the statue of her mother. Her eyes roamed across the diadem – _wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure _– and the half smile on Rowena Ravenclaw's face. In a way, it almost reminded Rose of the Mona Lisa, the little knowing smile. "Maybe this isn't as bad as you think it is. Nearly Headless Nick certainly makes his fun of it, so does the Friar. You have repented for centuries... maybe now is the time to enjoy and make what you can of your choices."

The Grey Lady smiled at Rose, but it lacked mirth and happiness. It was a saddened smile, one weighed down by melancholy thoughts and emotions. "I have made other choices, _wrong_ choices Rose." The Grey Lady returned. "Choices that have brought grief down upon the world. I am still as I was, the child who wanted to be more than her mother, and that has brought nothing good to this world. I will continue with my penance until I change."

Rose shook her head, unable to understand. Facing the first thought that came to her mind, Rose spoke again. "But ghosts _can't_ change!" She exclaimed. "You're imprints, not the person themselves. You're exactly as you were when you died, and you can never change from that! To spend your life wishing you could, _punishing_ yourself because you're a ghost... it makes _no_ sense! And if by how you treat me, I'd say you weren't a bad person!" Rose continued, trying to lock eyes with the Ravenclaw ghost. "You just liked knowledge, and you wanted to be seen as something other than Rowena Ravenclaw's daughter. What's so bad with that?"

"But remember how I acted. It is our actions that show who we truly are, not our words. I stole my mother's diadem, for my own profit. I am selfish and I am not a fool enough to deny it." The Grey Lady locked eyes with Rose, her silverly gaze enthralling. "You like me Rose, because in me, you see yourself. You are blinded by that. It causes you to give me traits I do not possess. You see an equivalent to your own position. All I can say is don't follow where I have gone. It brings only ruin."

* * *

"Enlighten me Miss Weasley; where is Miss Bell?"

Rose looked up from _Spellman's Syllabary_ into the eyes of Professor Priscilla Sullers. Professor Sullers was a witch who looked like she was in a perpetual state of mourning and general unhappiness, dressing entirely in black from the tip of her hat to her toes, with her raven dark hair and pale skin hardly helping her case. In Rose's mind, all she could ever see of the Professor, apart from the air of strictness the woman had about her, was the Muggle fairy tale _Snow White _her mother had read her one day in Rose's youth.

"She's ill ma'am," Rose answered, thinking of Alexis in the hospital wing. "A first year knocked her out while she was walking back from the Owlery. If I remember correctly ma'am, the student was trying to hex a classmate, and instead hit Alexis with... just a spell. No incantation, just stray magic." Rose glanced back down to her tablet of runes, eyes finding _eihwaz_. "I haven't seen her yet, but Thomas did say at breakfast that Madam Pomfrey does want to keep her in the wing, just for the rest of the day in case there's any side effects."

Professor Sullers pursed her lips and nodded, tugging on Rose's parchment to see how her translation was coming along. Her eyes raked across the careful lines of inscription, the runes copied neatly out on one side of the page, before translating, line for line, on the other. "This is good Miss Weasley, though a little slower than I expected. Your tenses are wrong though – see here how this rune here affects this one?" Professor Sullers pointed to a rune that looked faintly like an upside down y, with a third branch added, parallel to another. "It's more complicated translation, nothing a little reading wouldn't fix. _Advanced Rune Translation _would be helpful if you require it."

Rose nodded, reaching for the book and pulling it up into her lap. The mere presence of heavy, leather bound book was enough to satisfy Professor Sullers, who left Rose's table of scattered notes and tablets, in order to wander more freely about the room. "Oh, and Mr Malfoy? I suggest you once again encroach upon Miss Weasley's kindness if you wish to scrape more than an Acceptable in your N.E.W.T. examinations next year." There was a collective hushed laughter from the class as Rose blushed in her seat. "Quiet you lot! You, Mr Finch-Fletchley, are in no way better than Mr Malfoy and if I thought that you would listen to Miss Weasley as well as you listen to me, perhaps I would even recommend you as well. Well, Mr Malfoy, _encroach away_!" Professor Sullers ordered, standing in front of his desk. Rose fought back a laugh as the Professor waved Scorpius towards Rose, and from a fleeting sight of his face, Rose knew that he was fighting just as hard to hold his own laughter in. Pulling a nearby table closer to Rose, Scorpius laid the armful of his things onto his desk and sat down.

"Well, Miss Weasley," he whispered, "may I encroach upon your kindness?"

"You're an idiot." Rose answered smartly, pulling his translation from him. She scanned the lines of words, occasionally looking back onto the original runes to check his translation was indeed correct. Sighing, she took Scorpius's copy of _Advanced Rune Translation _and flipped through the pages until she came to the correct place. "Here, read this. It'll help you with it all." She thrust the book back at him, open to the chapter entitled _Runes: Word Negation & Belonging_. "You're main problem is you keep associating the runes as belonging to the wrong ones, whereas sometimes it changes depending upon the context and grammar of the sentence." Rose shook her head, twirling a stray curl around her finger as she looked down upon her own runes. "I don't get it. Why do you even want to be in this class? It does nothing for being an Auror."

If Rose had learnt anything about her Ancient Runes class, it was that it was as close to private as one could get. The few students that had decided to remain in the class (a grand total of twelve – an overall improvement of three they had been told) were spread out throughout the room, each with one, or sometimes, two desks just for their use. Between the scratching of quills and cursing of students, hushed conversations were hardly discernible and paid little heed, even if they were between a Weasley and a Malfoy. Many simply assumed that Rose was reprimanding Scorpius for a mistranslation, rather than conducting an actual conversation and discussion, a mistake that Rose did not bother correcting. If it meant she could talk to her friend without being attacked on all sides for doing so, it was worth the trouble of upholding it.

"Yeah, but it's practically the only extra class that I really want to take where Finnigan isn't getting us all blown up. Can you imagine the chaos he will reign down on your head with N.E.W.T. level Creatures? Excuse me, but no thank you." Scorpius grinned at Rose ever so slightly before placing his attention back on the text. "You started drawing yet? You've had the gift for a week, so I expect it to be almost full by now."

Rose choked back a laugh. "Oh yes, between homework and, oh, _more homework_, I've had ever so much time to devote to my drawing. As it is, I drew in it for the first time last night. It's a brilliant present, by the way. I love it."

Scorpius's grey eyes locked with hers for a moment, before Rose looked away. "I'm glad. So, you going to show me said drawing tonight then? I'm absolutely dying of curiosity here."

Rose frowned. "Tonight? What's tonight?" She asked back in a whisper.

"Well, considering I have Professor Sullers permission to intrude upon your life, I figured I'd intrude tonight. Does that sound wonderful? It does! Marvellous!" Scorpius added a touch of pomp to his words, his mouth pulled upwards in merriment. "Besides, Thursdays are good days. Fridays the teachers load you up to get you through the weekend so you can easily carry homework from the night before over into the weekend, and I _know _that Albus is booking the Quidditch pitch every Thursday for Quidditch practice, trials for which, incidentally, start next week. Seeing as I will be taking Tuesdays, and how Wednesday is really the night where most homework should be done, I think Thursdays are an excellent choice of days."

"Fine," Rose sighed. "Seven o'clock at the library. Bring all of this." Rose tapped Scorpius's parchment with the end of her quill. "And I _do _expect you to work you know, not just sit around and talk. I'm not sure I completely got that through to you last year." Rose bowed her head to hide the smile growing on her face. How many of their supposed study sessions had contained little study and more talking and flicking notes at each other than anything? Far too many to count, if Rose could recall correctly. Not that she had minded that much. It was fun to be with Scorpius, just talking or enchanting origami birds to fly or books to speak their contents. It was _easy _to be around Scorpius, like breathing. Nothing felt like it took an effort. She didn't have to force herself to forget that he was a Malfoy, or that he was a Slytherin, or that maybe she shouldn't hang around him – they simply fell away whenever she saw him. It was hard, so _impossibly_ hard to reconcile the image she had of Scorpius with the one everyone wanted her to see.

Scorpius appeared to be remembering the study sessions the previous year also. "You have my word. I'll work at _least _half the time. Overall, it's an improvement. Say... Cody hasn't been saying much about you and her in Care of Magical Creatures." Scorpius shifted on his chair, quill paused above paper. Rose did not look at him, instead dipping the nib of her own quill into the inkpot and focusing determinedly on her runes. She could read between the lines – _I've been talking with Cody and she's told me that you've abandoned her to hang around with your cousin, despite the fact that Cody is alone and friendless and I thought you two would actually get along and make each other feel okay_. Maybe those weren't the precise words Scorpius was thinking, but they were the words Rose felt like he should be. "Are you two getting along okay? I-I know she's a little bit of a handful sometimes, standoffish and the like, but I swear she's a good person. You just have to get to know her."

Guilt weighed itself in Rose's stomach. "To be honest Scorpius, I've been with Albus. He's all but dragged Thomas and myself into his group and he's not accepting Cody at all. I _know _that it's not fair to her but..." Rose shrugged helplessly. "I'm not a Gryffindor Scorpius; I don't have the courage to tell him no."

Rose suddenly found anywhere but where Scorpius was interesting. From the grain of the wooden desk to the windows in the room that showed the western school grounds, all of it was far more interesting than the loaded look Scorpius was giving her. Rose felt faintly sick, nauseated with herself for being such a complete _coward_. What was the point in being the child of a hero if you lacked all courage? What was the point of being Hermione Weasley's daughter if she couldn't stand up for herself, when her mother had shouldered the insult _Mudblood_ with pride, when she had championed the downtrodden?

"You shouldn't let your house define you." He muttered finally. His tone was heavy, and dark, with a trace of anger and frustration to the edge of it. "That's what you tell me all the time Rose. Don't let your past, or your house, define you. You are more than that. Just because you're not a Gryffindor doesn't mean that you can't stand up for yourself against your own cousin for Merlin's sake. If you can't stand up to your family, how in the world are you meant to stand up against your enemies?"

Rose risked one glance at Scorpius from the corner of her eye. He was gritting his teeth, clenching his jaw, dotting an i so fiercely that the parchment broke under the pressure. He cursed under his breath, scrunching the page into a ball and reaching for another. _I'm sorry_, Rose whispered inside the comfort of her own mind, _but I don't know what you want me to do. I can't go against my family. They're everything I have. I don't want to leave Cody, I _don't_,_ _but it's Albus and he doesn't understand. None of them understand and I'm sorry._

"I come from a family of Gryffindors Scorpius," Rose whispered, keeping her eyes steady on the page. It took an effort to keep her hand steady and her voice level, but she did. "Don't you think if I had had one _tiny _bit of Gryffindor in me, I would have been sorted there? As it was, I _begged_ the Sorting Hat to place me there, but it didn't. Sometimes, there are times when you can truly be defined for what you are… or what you aren't. I know you Scorpius, so I know you're not what they say Slytherins are. But you know _me_ just as I know you, and you know that I'm not crusader."

Rose took a deep breath, trying not to focus on the fact that Scorpius was no longer writing on his parchment, but instead, focusing his entire attention upon her. She could feel his gaze prickling across her neck, raising goosebumps in it's wake. "So I'm sorry if I'm just too much of a _coward_ for your tastes, but that's what I am. Take it or leave it, but don't expect me to change, least of all for someone who seems to find my personality so repulsive when I suddenly don't go along with their wants!" Rose finished, fighting to keep her voice soft and hushed as a surge of anger ran through her. What right did Scorpius have for wanting her to change, to be different that what she was? At least in that, Rose could stand her ground. All she had ever told Scorpius, all the things he had thrown in her face, was said to enlighten him to the fact that he was not what the whispers and rumours painted him as. But Rose… she knew what she was, and what she was not. The knowledge of her own faults was heavy within her, but it was knowledge that she needed to have. After all, the greatest knowledge one could have was knowledge of self, however troubling and confronting such wisdom could be.

"Rose, that's not what I meant at all." Scorpius spoke with his voice low, as if trying to soothe some injured animal. Is that what he saw her as, something wounded by his words? Did he suppose that he had that great an influence upon her that the slightest word he said of review and critique would upset her? Indignation rose within her chest, blossoming alongside the anger already within her. "Rose, _Rosie_, come on, look at me!"

As his hand reached across the table to her, Rose moved away, keeping her distance. For a moment, Scorpius's hand hovered on her table, as if its owner was in indecision about whether to pull away or continue to reach for her, before it withdraw, silence falling between the two. The silence was awkward and tense, an uncomfortable weight upon Rose's shoulders. How had it all gone so bad so _quickly_? One day, he was apologising and it was fine, never better, until the next week something happened that set them down the same path yet again in a never-ending cycle. Was this the way the world was trying to tell them that their friendship was unnatural, by continually trying to push them away from one another? If it was, Rose had to admit, she was beginning to have doubts over the long term nature of their friendship. It seemed like it down purely to luck that it had lasted for so long, not any permanent connection. But… but….

When it was going _well_, when they weren't fighting, it was simple. It was effortless. It was a friendship to rival Rose's own with Albus, and maybe even win. There was laughter and philosophy and silences that weren't awkward but contemplative and beautiful in their stillness. When it was going _well_, Rose could spend hours with Scorpius, doing absolutely nothing at all and still have the time of her life. There were never pretences, no lies or façades over how they felt. It was honest and true, and the freedom that came with such friendship was exhilarating and heady, intoxicating to Rose's senses. Was that why she liked Scorpius? Not for what he was, but for how he made her feel so free? Maybe the sensation, akin to riding Thestrals with the wind on her face, was more to do with the fact that Rose was rebelling, and less to do with the fact that Scorpius was a genuinely enjoyable person to be around.

The thought sent a stab of terror through Rose. What if what she truly loved about her relationship with Scorpius had _nothing_ to do with him but _everything_ to do with the social conventions she was flaunting to be near him? As a friend, Scorpius was everything that Rose could have ever asked for – he listened, cared, _empathized_. He was entirely beyond words, and captivated her by the way that she never could truly describe what he was. He was, at his very core, _good_, and too good to be used simply as a vehicle for Rose's personal rebellion. It wasn't fair to him for her to abuse his friendship as she was.

Rose looked up for a moment, eyes resting on Scorpius. He didn't notice her attention upon him or simply refused to look at her in any case. He had a Seeker's build, lean and compact – unlike some of her cousins, he wasn't muscle bound but simply slim and lithe. She had always liked that about Scorpius, he never had looked menacing, like he could snap her in half. After all the rumours Rose had heard about the Malfoy family, she had expected Scorpius to look frighteningly intimidating. But he hadn't – he had had a small smile and blonde waves that fell across his face.

Rose immediately focused once again on her work as the bell rang and Scorpius stood. From the corner of her eye, she could see him glance once at her before he left, his expression unreadable. It was only when Rose knew that Scorpius had left the classroom that she looked up and began packing away her things, her mind flitting between Scorpius's words and her own fears about her reasons for their friendship, afraid to dwell on either for too long but hopeless against the pull of both topics, begging her mind to unravel them and find truth and certainty.

The thoughts distracted Rose as she walked up the winding staircase to the Ravenclaw tower, and made her answer to the raven's question garbled and vague, neither of which the raven knocker appreciated. Rose's only saving grace was in the arrival of Matt behind her, carrying his History of Magic textbooks in his arms. If he thought Rose's ineloquence strange, he made no verbal note of it, simply answering the question and leading both to their claimed chairs, respectfully keeping his distance from Rose, verbally and physically. At any other time, Rose might have asked a question, perhaps about his class, or made a note of the fact that his cheeks were ever so slightly stained red, as if Matt was only just throwing off a blush. But, in her contemplation, Rose found the silence welcoming and company unappealing.

In such a state, Rose completed little work, the time rushing by her. In what felt like minutes, the bell had rung again, signalling the beginning of break and setting the Ravenclaw common room into motion once more. Gathering her Defence Against the Dark Arts books into a bag, Rose joined Matt where he waited patiently for her, feeling more and more like her mouth had been sewn shut.

As was becoming habit, when Rose arrived at the entrance to the classroom, Albus immediately sought her out, pulling her ever so slightly away from her friends and towards his. When she had been younger, in those first few years as a Ravenclaw, the action had been a comfort, a sign that she still was part of the Weasley and Potter family, included with them despite being in a different house. But now, the same action felt different, like instead of including her, it was excluding her from others, dragging her across a line she couldn't come back from.

"Rose!" Albus exclaimed, his grin wide and bright. He seemed to glow with his happiness, and it was infectious, bringing a smile to Rose's face. "Cousin! I have a _wonderful _idea about tonight. Seeing as how we've got a later curfew, I was thinking that maybe we all have a little get together in an empty room. I figure you can't be working _all _the time, so you'd have to rock up at some stage. And a little bit of you is better than nothing, right?" Albus linked an arm around hers, puffing out his chest as if escorting Rose was the greatest honour he had ever had. A small giggle escaped Rose as she watched her prat of a cousin parade about like a fool. It was Albus's distinct ability to be, all at once, humorous and idiosyncratic without looking like a fool that made him such a joy to be around. He invited people to laugh _with _him, as he knew _exactly _how he looked, but truly didn't care. It was the Gryffindor blood that made him like that, confident and brazen, like the world could press down on him but he wouldn't budge an inch.

"And who is this we you're speaking of?" Rose asked, arching an eyebrow to show Albus that his attempt to pass off the party as a small event had been unsuccessful. "Just all of Gryffindor house, I'm thinking…."

He tapped her nose. "Now where is the fun in spoiling the surprise so early Rose? Now, I will say that there will be relatives, and family friends, and friends, and your friends are, of course, always invited to our little rendezvous. So yes, basically, anyone and everyone you can think of will be there and it shall be a _smashing_ event. Roxanne is even bringing some new things from Uncle George's shop. Just fireworks and joke candy, you know, but good stuff. It's bound to be a hoot! So, will you come?" Albus asked, genuine hope in his voice as he spoke. Everything about Albus was genuine, open and plain to see; the boy even wore his heart proudly on his sleeve and thought nothing of it! It was one of the things Rose loved so dearly about him. Albus was _unguarded_, and sincere – there was not one moment when Albus had offered something he wasn't willing to give. And what was more, Rose thought with a smile as she relented to Albus's request and nodded that she would come, was that he honestly didn't know just how rare of a person that made him. And even though Albus was hard headed, with a rash, fiery temper and an opinion that didn't often change, all of that was made up for in his ability to be utterly and completely candid and honest.

"_Brilliant_ Rose! It's going to start between seven and eight in the Charms room. Curfews at ten, so that gives us a few hours of fun to be had before we toddle on off to bed. Is there anyone you'd like to invite?"

Rose shrugged, looking behind her at the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs who stood behind her. Only Shian looked even mildly interested by the idea, stepping forward to hear more details. She slapped a hand on Rose's shoulder, resting her chin on it, watching Albus with wide, innocent eyes. "New things from Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes you say? Count me in. I'm always dying to figure out what I can use to … well…." With a sly grin, Shian pulled away from Rose and winked at her. "Let's just say, it's always handy to keep some around to pull Matt into line, wouldn't you think Rose?"

"I heard that!" Matt called out indignantly. "And no, I put my foot down. You're not going if the only reason you're going is to get things that you can use on me! I'm not your guinea pig! I'm putting my foot down."

Shian arched an eyebrow, taking her time to look at Matt from his shoes upwards. "Matt, _honey_, your foot is already down, so the point is moot. _Besides_," Shian continued, sighing as if with great patience. A grin spread across her face as she sidled up beside Matt and pretended to examine her nails with disinterest. "If you come, maybe you can find something to use right back at me. The Skittering Wand is a real big thrill, or so I hear. It looks like your wand, hell, it even feels like your wand – _if _you can lay your hands on it. I hear it's a guaranteed one foot distance between hand and wand each time you go to grab it."

Matt's face flushed an instant red. "_That's_ what you did to my wand this morning? No wonder Fraser and Justin were laughing as I went for it! That's it Shian, the final straw! I'm going to hex you until… until…!" The threat fell flat as Matt struggled for words, dropping his books on the floor so he could scramble more easily around students, trying to catch Shian. Small and ribbon slim as she was, Shian seemed to simply dance around Matt, easily darting out of reach.

"Five galleons says that Matt doesn't catch her before Professor Ward comes." Rose whispered out of the corner of her mouth, watching the two run around the other students. With a flick of Shian's wand, a hood of a robe swung out and caught Matt in the face, causing an eruptions of giggles in the crowd.

"Rose, you're my favourite cousin and all, but even _I _know better than that! Everyone has seen this scene play out, and we _all _know how it ends." Albus watched Shian with dismay written across his face as he saw her dart through a narrow gap in two Gryffindors without seeming to touch either. "And this is exactly where I wish that Shian had been a Gryffindor. Not that I don't like my Quidditch team from years past, or begrudge you Ravenclaws a good team, because Merlin knows that you're in good form from what I hear, but the girl is a natural Chaser if I've ever seen one. And I have. Just don't tell Lily I said that, or her ego might swell to rival James."

Rose rolled her eyes, slapping her cousin's arm. "Lily's not like that and you know it. She's about as arrogant as my left foot and as smug as my right. But, anyway, back to Quidditch, you have the trials all sorted out?"

Albus nodded, bending down and picking up Matt's books. "Next Saturday morning. You going to come watch, cheer on Lily and Roxanne?"

"And Lorcan." Rose added. "What's the Gryffindor Quidditch team without it being at least half Weasley, Potter or Scamander? I'll be heartbroken Albus, truly and devastatingly _heartbroken_, if those three don't get it… you catch my drift?"

Albus let out a laugh. "Rose Weasley, trying to coerce me into letting family into the team? Never thought I'd see the day!" He pulled on a curl, ignoring Rose's glare as he watched it spring back into form before he tugged it down again. "It should be fine anyway. Lorrie Wood and Fergus MacDonald finished last year, so I have a Chaser and Beater open – with any luck, it'll just be two new additions. Anymore and we're getting a bit iffy. You lose team mentality you see. Too many fresh faces and awkward conversations."

Rose gave Albus a flat look. "Al, just because I don't play Quidditch, doesn't mean I don't get the basics of team and pack behaviour." She made an offhand gesture, and tugged her curl out of his hand. "But, back to this party... I said I would come and I'm not reneging on my word but, when you said relatives, did you mean...?" Rose asked, trailing off. Albus nodded eagerly, his grin large and spreading.

"Oh yes I did. _Everyone_, well everyone at Hogwarts anyway, will be there. Even James is relenting from stroking his ego long enough to come down and have a good time."

"Well in that case," Rose laughed, "I just _have _to come then, don't I? Besides, it's not like it can be _that _bad."

Shian grinned as she stopped beside Rose, glancing back once to mock Matt with an air kiss. "Famous last words." She commented, linking her arms through Rose's, with a devilish grin on her face.

* * *

If the Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes stores were the breeding ground for chaos and humiliation, then Albus' party was at least half of that, with firecrackers ricocheting off the stone walls, dragons made of shooting stars tumbling and cart wheeling into giggling students and what Rose suspected was one of Uncle George's strong Euphoria potions (M_errymaking Concoction – the party atmosphere in a bottle! Get the party started in the best way_!) wafting throughout the room. That was not to say that Albus' gathering was a mess – it was, in fact, the exact opposite, and delightfully overwhelming. There was simply too much to look at and see, though Rose had to wonder how exactly the teachers weren't flocking to the party and asking exactly what all the ruckus was.

As a spiralling firecracker exploded over the group, showering them all in a mixture of glitter and small orbs of multicoloured light which snagged in Rose's hair, Albus caught sight of his cousin. Or rather, _all _of her cousins caught sight of her. Roxanne was the first to make her way to Rose, and, pulling out a bright green orb which promptly fell to yet more dust and glitter which clung to them both, leaned closer to whisper in Rose's ear, her dark hair falling over her shoulder and tickling Rose's face. "Albus and James have got a boy here for you. He's very dashing. Hell, he's even got a few 'Outstanding's in his O.W.L.s. Just a heads up."

Rose felt her face blush red, right up to her ears. She could imagine how she looked on the outside, with her face the same colour as her hair. Oh, what a perfect, pretty picture she made, _especially _since Albus and James had brought a boy for her! Not that Rose needed them to, or had really _wanted_ them to, but it was always flattering, and being called her mother's daughter could only be said so many times before the compliment wearied... Bowing her head, Rose tried to cover her face in her hands, quite sure that she was only blushing more. It did not help either, that Shian was quietly trying to stifle a laugh beside her.

"Rosie!" Lily laughed as she practically bounded to her cousin's side. Glancing up, Rose saw Lily shoulder and bump Roxanne out of her way with a quick flash of a grin at the elder cousin. "Just ignore whatever Roxy has said, we all know that there is no truth to it, or if there is, that she's just teasing and stirring up trouble. It's the Uncle George in her, you know?"

Rose choked back a laugh as she stared, incredulously, at Lily. _The Uncle George in her?_ Fortunately for Rose's tongue tied mouth, Roxanne seemed to have similar ideas, bending backwards and miming stabbing herself through the heart with her wand melodramatically. "Oh, how you _wound_ me!" She cried out shrilly. "How you _break _my poor, ailing heart! Oh yes, the Uncle George in me... it's a poison, a disease! But oh, my dear, sweet cousin, oh my bestest friend in the entire world," Roxanne swung an arm out and captured Lily in a not-so-gentle but not-so-tight headlock, holding the giggling fourteen year old easily. "Oh, how you _kill _me!"

"You're dying? About time." James grinned as he said it, and did not blink at the scathing look that Roxanne sent him. Beside James, stood Louis, the two opposing pictures – one dark haired and rather burly, the other fair and much leaner – like night and day personified in the room; James, with his sneaky half grin that quite plainly said, at least in Rose's mind, _'yes, I know I'm good_', and Louis, with his easy going charm. "Rose. Shian." He greeted them almost shortly, giving them very little of acknowledgement before he teetered on his feet and moved through the crowd.

Rose arched an eyebrow. "What's his problem?" She asked Louis as Roxanne and Lily continued to wrestle among themselves, with Roxanne being clearly the winner. "Should I have laughed at his joke, or is he just feeling guilty about trying to hook me up with someone?"

Louis shrugged. "Who knows? I may be his dormmate but I knew little about the boy and less about the man. No, scratch that, there was only ever a boy."

"Just don't let him catch you saying that, or he'll have your head on a platter for insulting him." Albus pointed out as he drew closer. His eyes caught on Rose's face and he, ever so slightly, frowned, eyes darting once to the entwined figures of his sister and cousin. "I'm guessing it was Roxanne that told you were invited a boy especially for you?" At Rose's nod, he shrugged, turning to Louis with faux-exasperation. "The family just can't keep a secret, can they?" He queried, turning back to look at the spectacle Lily and Roxanne were putting on. A small crowd had gathered, and were rooting for the clear underdog in Lily, some yelling out hints to help her out of Roxanne's various holds. Only a few members of the Quidditch team seemed to be remaining impartial, knowing that Lily would either entirely block them out of game play with the Quaffle or Roxanne would swing the Bludgers at them at next practice if they chose sides. "Of interest, should we stop our darling family members before any lasting harm is done? I actually don't want my Quidditch team to be ruined because Roxanne put Lily's neck out."

Louis seemed to weigh up the choices in his mind before coming to a decision. "No, not worth the effort. Besides, look at Rox – she's hardly putting anything behind it. It's more fun and games than actual decapitation."

Rose snorted in a laugh, blushing even further if it was possible, while Shian choked. "Decapitation? Does this... do you guys actually try to kill each other?"

There was a fraction of a moment of complete silence between the four, where all that could be heard were the whoops of people watching the firecrackers (now with hippogriffs flying around the room completing loop-de-loops) and the casual cheering at the now official wrestling match that was Potter vs. Weasley. All three faces from the Weasley/Potter clan turned to face Shian and widen their eyes, turning once more, this time to each other to ask the unspoken question of '_did she really just say that?_', before glancing back at Shian and bursting out into gales of laughter. Shian flushed red.

"A-are you kidding?" Albus managed to gasp out as he wiped an imaginary tear from his eye. "Where would be the fun in killing each other? There'd be no one to almost kill the next year at Christmas! _Do you guys actually try to kill each other_... honestly the funniest thing I've heard today..." Albus's voice trailed off as he recollected himself, grinning from ear to ear. "Don't take it to heart though Shian – it's a simple assumption to make, especially if you've ever seen Rox and James together in one room for an hour or two. Now come on Rose, I've been to all this trouble to get you here and to get this mystery boy of yours here, so come and meet him!"

A red faced Shian pushed her forward towards Albus with a wicked, sly smile that clearly said 'payback'. Allowing herself to be guided through the crowd, which was thinning slightly as the younger years who were openly gawking at the firecrackers were told that they would soon have to think about their eight o'clock curfew (much to their disappointment Rose saw), Rose tried not to think about the fact that she was red faced and still wearing her standard uniform black robe while her hair was, undoubtedly, frizzy and wild after a double of potions to end the day. "I didn't ask you to do this." Rose pointed out as Albus steered her through a small gaggle of third years who were watching the Scamander twins take on James with visual appreciation clear on their faces. "So you could have... I don't know. _Not_. It's not like I need a boy in my life, you know. I'm doing perfectly fine without one."

"Oh yes, yes, I know." Struck by a thought, Albus came to a sudden halt and turned on his heels. "Are you gay Rose? Is that why you don't date?" Worry was clear on his face. "No, don't take the wrong way, I don't want to offend you or anything! I can find girls too, you know!" His voice rose on the last words as she saw him mentally scan through the girls he knew to find a candidate.

Rose shook her head, laughing. "Al, it's a nice thought, but no. I just don't feel like having a boyfriend. Too much trouble. At least, that's what every girl tells me after James breaks up with them and they're over the hexing him stage."

He let out an audible sigh of relief. "Good. Not because, you know, being gay is bad, but because it's good to know that I haven't been swallowing my foot all these years because I've shoved it that far down my throat, you know? Well, in that case, let us continue towards your mystery boy and you can tell me if you want him then. Besides, James is hardly a good example of what a boyfriend should be like. He should be chivalrous, taking off his hat every time you enter the room, or putting it on if he doesn't have it on and taking it off. All very quick of course, so you don't feel obliged by the fact that he had to put _on _his hat then take _off_ his hat for you. But yes, a gentleman who should open doors and perform fancy wandwork that spells out '_I heart you_', with, mind you, this being a physical heart made out of stars and suns and diamonds and all sorts of shiny things that you girls like, in the sky and makes flowers appear out of nowhere. Oh, and he should always ask you how you are. Like thirty nine times a day, just to show you that he honestly cares about how you're going and what you're feeling. And speaking of feelings, he should speak about them. And not just, 'oh, I hate broccoli', but the deep, manly ones like, 'oh my darling woman, I love you ever so much'." Albus gave a sigh. "So of course, with those expectations in mind, I give you Jason Morgan."

Rose frowned, mind still caught on the imagery Albus had painted (and the laughter she was withholding) to notice the introduction. Flushing red, she turned her attention to Jason, holding out her hand. "Rose Weasley. We have met of course." She added the last part more for Albus's sake than any other. Jason nodded, smiling a tight grin that told Rose he was having just as much trouble reining in his entertainment as she was. "Being in the same year and all."

They had, of course, known each other since the beginning of Hogwarts – or rather, known _of _each other. Jason was one of those multi-talented types, seemingly perfect at everything. He was a good Quidditch player, good Transfigurer, an adept Charmer (in more ways than one, or so the rumour went) and his mind for potions was seemingly unparalleled, excepting for the prodigy of Rose Weasley. At one stage, there had been a type of competition between the two in their shared classes. The competition, aided and abetted by Albus, of course, had existed through third year, when Jason had announced that he was determined to beat Rose in _something_ and had chosen Ancient Runes. In hindsight, it was a valid choice. Jason had an exception memory, remembering even the smallest details about the most obscure things, but, though he did come close, many, many times to overtaking Rose in their studies, he had not. Though, like her, he had gained an 'Outstanding' O.W.L. in Ancient Runes, Potions and Charms – a very fine effort Rose thought. But he had always existed in her mind in that frame of mind – not as a boy of her own age but a rival and intellectual counterpart. She had never seen if he was handsome before, and it was only Roxanne's words in her ear – _he's very dashing_ – that made her look again.

Rose didn't know if she would call him dashing, for it implied style and class which Jason made no obvious sign of dressing for, but she would call him handsome. There was something about his features, which lingered somewhere in between angular and soft, strong and curving, that was open, warm and sincere, and something about his smile, though it was the barest gleam of teeth at the moment, that made her believe him honest and friendly. It wasn't in those features that she found in handsome, or even in the colour of his eyes and hair, both of which were the same – to be honest, his features were quite plain and common – but his spirit. It was the way it seemed to glow inside his skin like a fire that made him handsome to her.

"But it's always a pleasure." His eyes, warm and brown, dancing with merriment as he brought Rose's hand to his mouth and kissed the back of her hand very softly. Straightening, he glanced at Albus. "Was that gentlemanly enough for you, Al?"

Albus's eyes were caught on Rose's and Jason's still linked hands. "Not quite, but very close."

Rose slid her hand out of Jason's a clearing of her throat. "Congratulations of your O.W.L. scores. Albus was saying that I'd have to watch my back for you when N.E.W.T.s came around."

Jason paid no mind to her words. "What's that in your hair?" He reached out (not up, Rose noted, which was a very good thing) and pulled one small flickering ball of electrical blue from the red strands. It was the size of the beads that Lily had once wanted to braid into Rose's hair, and appeared to be nothing more than a piece of parchment wrapped around a glow of light. She leaned forward to look at the orb closer, only to have it disintegrate in her face, showering her with a cloud of electrical blue dust disproportionate to the size of the orb.

Rose blinked as Albus roared with laughter. Jason, being more tactful, only smiled and helped Rose wipe away the blue with the edge of his sleeve. "It looks very tribal, very party style." He commented with a grin. Rolling her eyes, Rose rubbed away the dust that lingered uncomfortably under her nose. "Goes along smashingly with the green."

Rose glared at Albus, who walked away from the two still cackling. Grabbing her wand, Rose cast a spell with a whisper, feeling the dust disappear. "I'm going to kill Uncle George for this. How is this humorous at all?"

Jason laughed this time. "It's humorous when it happens to someone else, see?" He grabbed another orb of colour and purposely pinched it in front of his face. It exploded in front of his face, turning his skin neon yellow. "See, funny!"

Rose rolled her eyes again in exasperation. "Yeah, yeah, sure."

But she was grinning too.

* * *

_Disclaimer: all of this ultimately belongs to J.K. Rowling (characters, setting, the world, basically everything you recognise). The plot, the writing – that's mine. No stealing. I have a man eating giant bunny on loan to track you down and gobble you. You have been warned._

* * *

**LONG AUTHOR'S NOTE**

**A/N**: Thanks to **wow** for the review – it caught on several crucial points that form the backstory. All I can say in response is that

1. As Dumbledore says in HP1, it takes more courage to stand up to friends than enemies. As it is, Rose stands up to Alexis, a friend, in defence of Scorpius – she just can't with her family. In a way, Rose tutoring Scorpius and electing to continue to despite her cousin's thoughts on the matter _is _her standing up for her friendship with Scorpius – if James had his way, Rose wouldn't be within ten feet of him. Also about Rose's backbone – she defines herself as the Ravenclaw Weasley, and thus acts accordingly. Mindset is a powerful thing.

2. About the prejudice, this I can fully explain. The Potter/Weasleys are at Hogwarts for nine months of the year without fail, an environment that detests Slytherins and the children of Death Eaters. The mindset of the other houses is that they caused the Second Wizarding War, and children (or relatives) of Death Eaters (Scorpius) more so than others (also, there are very few children of Death Eaters, most of the Death Eaters being in Azkaban and all, leading to Scorpius taking on a large portionof the responsibility for the Death Eaters actions – he is the sacrificial lamb. Furthermore, as very few know what happened the night of the Battle of Hogwarts, the Malfoys are thought to have weaselled their way out of Azkaban, rather than changed sides, bringing further fuel in that they evaded justice). This view is fuelled by those who lost loved ones to the war, such as the relatives of Amelia Bones (Vanessa & Camilla Bones – no, they are not canon. They are the daughters of Susan Bones, who kept her maiden name as a tribute to her aunt). Though Harry _would_ teach tolerance and respect (as would Ron and Hermione too), we must never forget that he also bullied Draco when he could, through insults and taunts, because of the boiling pot environment of Hogwarts. This selfsame environment is ultimately what breeds the prejudices against Scorpius and the Slytherins, as it is expected and more so from the descendants of the Trio. Not to mention that Draco and Harry hated each other – therefore, it's almost _expected _that their children hate each other as well – and Ron actively pushes Rose to beat Scorpius, which suggests that tolerance cannot be accepted in the case of the young Malfoy. Again, mindset is a powerful thing.

Thanks also goes to **Thais Uchiha **for their review – sorry about the wait, but if all goes to plan, I should be updating more. As it is, I just took a break to finish plotting and outlining the story, so I now know where everything goes. That being said, I don't know if I will. I'm focusing on completing my NaNoWriMo story as it is, and I've just moved from high school to university... But, addressing your point about the sixth and seventh years having classes together, I didn't think I put _any_ together... I'll have a double check though, I might have accidentally put in a random seventh year... The only other thing it could have been was the study classes, which take place in the common room, so there can be seventh years... hmm... – and **xXHPLuvnBandGeekXx**,** snowflake26** and **daysandnights **for the story alert.

Feel free to watch, review, hate, flame, be a ghostie, or ignore. But no stealing.

xx

Ghost.


	5. The Quidditch Trials

**Chapter Five. The Quidditch Trials**

* * *

Rose could always be counted on to know when the next Quidditch game was scheduled or the tryouts were being held – and not due to any great amount of trying on her part. Apart from the general air of excitement that enveloped the halls and increased number of squabbles between the houses, Rose was usually bombarded with questions about her cousin's team by younger students. For some odd reason, they believed that as she was a Weasley and related to the Potters, that Quidditch would be flowing through her blood so quick that it could constitute as flying in and of itself and lift her off her feet without any need for a broom. The questions were mostly the same – do you think we'll win, is the team strong enough, do you think you could get Albus to come and watch me play and give me some hints...? – but the student population had never been accused of being overly creative. In any case, it was relatively easy to quell the questions, either by pointing out her Ravenclaw badge (which worked quite effectively, especially when it was an upcoming Ravenclaw versus Gryffindor match) or by simply shrugging and walking away.

It was, as such, when the Quidditch trials came about. First, there was the titter of first years, all at the same time anxious and dizzyingly excited about getting on brooms either for the first time or again since the beginning of term. There was the vague hope in them that they could be that one exception to the 'no first years' rule in Quidditch, though there hadn't been one since Rose's Uncle Harry had started at Hogwarts, and tradition stated there wouldn't be another for at least seventy years or more. Older years were just as excited with the prospect of joining the empty spaces in teams (or, sometimes, in cases even more preferable, hijacking an existing team member's position) while the less talented fliers were just enthused by the prospect of weekend Quidditch, though Rose could hardly see why. Quidditch took place in, more often than not, cold, wet and miserable conditions. Why anyone would _choose_ to be in them was completely beyond Rose's sizeable intellect. Oh, Rose could stand to be a spectator of the sport, sitting in the stands, hopefully undercover, warm and dry, and cheering on her team to some degree, but playing the game while it was raining and muddy and with Bludgers trying to kill you... She'd much rather _not_. However, it was hard to completely ignore the game, when it seemed like the majority of her family played it, not even to mention the vast amount of Rose's friends who played the game, including Pippa.

When Rose did see Pippa, which, due to vast quantities of homework on both of their ends, was far from often, Rose saw her glance longingly out of the common room windows to the mountains and Quidditch pitch. It had never been a surprise to Rose that Pippa had been a Quidditch player. Surprisingly, it was not in that Pippa moved with a precise knowledge of where she and all parts of her were at all times that for Pippa to be anything but a Quidditch player seemed to be unthinkable, but more that the reasonable, level headed, voice of caution Pippa, could turn her mind to devious ploys and faked moves with such ease that Rose was very nearly wary of anything the seventh year offered her. Even though the seventh year Cassandra Safford was technically the Captain of the Ravenclaw team, it was Pippa who often devised tactics in the rare free time that both Cassandra and her shared. Not that Rose begrudged Pippa her tactical mind – it had steadily brought Ravenclaw closer to taking the Quidditch Cup in the years that she had been on the team.

"So are we going to take the Quidditch Cup from Gryffindor and Slytherin this year?" Rose asked as she sat down beside Pippa, who was fully immersed in a Charms textbook. It never failed to strike Rose's fancy that the two biggest rivals at Hogwarts had finally managed to (grudgingly and with many bad tempers) share something, with the 'something' being the School Quidditch Cup. Neither Captains, teams nor Houses of the two had been particularly pleased with the arrangement, but the last minute goal, aimed at prolonging the game in the aim of procuring an outright win, had come too late, and instead coincided neatly with the second before the Golden Snitch was caught and the game ended. As Quidditch scoring worked on goal difference rather than accumulative score, it should, by right, have not resulted in both participating teams winning the Quidditch Cup, but after relatively bad seasons which featured a humiliating defeat for both the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff teams, it led to the final match of the season beginning, and ending, with Gryffindor and Slytherin tied. Pippa, for her part, seemed to think that the unfortunate arrangement of both Gryffindor and Slytherin being awarded the cup to be a personal insult to her tactics and had been seen drawing complicated diagrams many times over during the evenings, before she would mutter, scrawl lines across the parchment and ultimately throw entire balls of the parchment into the fire.

Some, in very quiet voices, had begun to question Pippa's sanity.

"What?" Pippa stifled a large yawn as Rose flicked her wand and summoned her heavy book bag closer without a word. Though Professor Ward hadn't stated that practicing of non-verbal spells was necessary, Rose imagined that the idea of quiet but dutiful students would soon catch on with the other teachers, or at least that was what they seemed to be hinting at. "Oh, Quidditch. I _hope _so, but I don't know what the team's like, or even if I'll get in..." Pippa sighed, marking her page in the book with a long length of light ribbon and watching Rose as she made a pencil cartwheel across the window sill. "It would be nice though, to win the Quidditch Cup before my final year's over, you know? Call me out on the whole nine yards of cliché, but it would be nice just to have that memory."

Rose shrugged. "Well, if all else fails, we can always steal it for your birthday in March. I'm sure no one will miss it, well, for at least two months."

"And where would we hide this trophy?" Pippa finally cracked a smile, bringing out her wand to tap Rose's pencil, where it turned, unexplainably, bright purple with streaks of orange. Rose arched an eyebrow at the choice of colours but said nothing further on it, twirling her wand between her fingers. She could see finger marks on it, the dusk light that filtered in through the windows illuminating the hazel wood in warm orange.

"In my dorm room of course. Shian would find inspiration from it, and I don't think that Therese would particularly mind in the slightest. From there, Briar and Katherine would be easy to convince to hold the secret. The only problem, of course, would be getting it in the first place, seeing as it does lodge itself in the office of your House Head." Rose grimaced at the thought of sneaking into a teacher's office. "Of course, with it being shared between two houses, I expect it just to be held in the trophy room, which is easily accessible, if not a little more public than one would like for a heist."

Pippa smirked. "A heist now is it? Is it going to involve high speed chases on broomsticks and subterfuge?"

Rose chuckled, tapping the end of her wand against the pencil. It fell to the sill with a clatter, and rolled to the ground. "Of course, it simply wouldn't be a heist without those. And, of course, there shall also be disguises involving moustaches and all sorts of high quality diversion products supplied by, of course, the Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes. Uncle George would be thrilled to know that his products are being put to good use. None of the namby-pamby nonsense full of half hearted tricks; if it's not true mischief, it isn't worth the product."

Pippa's smirk grew wider as she bent down to pick up the now purple pencil and pass it to Rose. "You sound like you're trying to advertise to me. _Are _you trying to advertise to me, or has your uncle simply drilled it into so many times that it comes naturally now?" Though Pippa was speaking to her, Rose knew that Pippa was paying her minimal attention. Instead, Pippa was focusing on the scroll being handed to Cassandra Safford by a first year, biting her lip.

Rose sighed. "Out with it then if you're so worried. When are trials?"

She glanced back at Rose with a start, as though she'd forgotten she were there. Which was entirely possible, Rose admitted to herself, but not because she was forgettable, though that well may have been part of it, but because Quidditch was something that Pippa loved so dearly. Pippa shot Rose an apologetic look, letting her shoulders slump as she tried, and failed, to relax. "As soon as possible, next weekend in fact – some other team booked the pitch this weekend. I can't say that I'm feeling the best about it all. There's a new broom out, which means I'm four brooms out of date and what if there's someone better than me and..." Pippa sighed, pressing her lips together in a hard line to keep whatever words she felt were too honest and raw to say inside her mouth, the smirk that had once graced her face now gone, all traces of its existence vanished as if it had never been there in the first place. "You won't take offence if I say that I would prefer it if you didn't come, will you?"

Rose rolled her eyes at the now customary question. "If I have told you once, I've told you before – I don't care if I don't come and see some Quidditich trials. To me, it's all very trivial. Of course, I will still need to go to the Gryffindor trials, but think of it more as a political move, aimed at keeping the family happy, than for any real enjoyment on my part. With any luck, I'll be able to get non-verbal spells completely right by the time the trials are held. They're this weekend, in fact, in the morning." Rose informed Pippa, who looked more than mildly interested in the topic. How much information Pippa could gleam over such a trivial thing was beyond Rose, but Rose knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that somewhere within Pippa's mind, there was a plan and plot waiting to be formed. Rose could only hope that it would involve gatecrashing the Gryffindor trials to do preliminary research on the Gryffindor team. It would make the whole ordeal ever so slightly more enjoyable. "They can't go overtime though, because the pitch is booked again, but in the afternoon. Albus was a fool not to book the whole day like Cassandra. Apparently, he's already had more than thirty people apply for team."

"Wouldn't surprise me, though it might have something to do with the fact that Albus is captain now. I don't recall Lindon ever having the same problem, at least to that degree." Pippa glanced out at the Quidditch pitch once again, worry clear in her eyes. It was irrational, and Rose was sure that Pippa knew that, for Pippa was an excellent flier and an excellent Quidditch player, but Rose knew her fears and doubts still lingered on. Though Rose had never been able to gleam much about the origins of Pippa's doubts, she knew that it had something to do with Pippa's stepbrother, a wizard eight years her elder. "Amuse me, who has the pitch booked in the afternoon if not the Gryffindor team? It isn't Hufflepuff by any chance, is it?"

Rose grimaced, resting her chin on the palm of her hand. "No, it's Slytherin. It's trouble waiting to happen, but Albus seems to think that there won't be any trouble."

"Albus or Jason?" The corner of Pippa's mouth pulled up once again, her serious demeanour suddenly lifting. "Don't think that no one noticed the fact that you two are talking a lot more than you usually do. I swear Shian was almost aghast at his nerve at walking with you to Transfiguration. What's happening there?"

Rose blushed, gathering her things closer to herself. "There's absolutely nothing happening between us, we're just friends. That's all." Was it the late afternoon sun shining on her face, or was the blood rushing through her cheeks that was turning them hot? "I can be friends with a guy you know."

"Oh, I know you can, I'm just saying that he certainly doesn't look like being friends is all he has on his mind, that's all. Boys don't usually smile that much without certain reasons." Her smile was wicked and pronounced as she stood, clutching the Charms book under her arm, and winked at Rose. "He's a nice guy, you should give him a chance. After all, he'd probably be too scared to treat you as anything but a goddess being sandwiched by your relatives and his twin. I'm just saying."

"He's not... I don't..."

Pippa's grin softened for a moment. "But how does he make you feel Rose?"

Rose remembered the way he had talked to her – not like she was a Weasley, not like she was a prodigy, not like she should have been a Gryffindor, not like she was a Ravenclaw, but just like she was Rose, and that was all that he wanted from her. Like that was all she needed to be when she was with him, just Rose. It had been more than nice to be herself, fully herself, completely comfortable and accepted in her own skin. It had been... Rose couldn't even describe it, there were no words for it. It had been like a sun was blossoming inside of her chest, spreading warmth to every portion of her body, like golden light had threading through her skin and she was glowing from it.

And Rose hadn't ever remembered feeling that good since...

Since before she and Scorpius were fighting.

The happy bubble inside of Rose deflated at the thought of Scorpius. Twisting her fingers around each other, she stared determinedly out the window, trying not to think about the fact that she had blown his tutoring session off for Albus's party. She tried not to think about the awkward distance between them in Ancient Runes, where Rose sat with Alexis is between them so she didn't have the temptation to look at him, or the fact that he might, at that very moment, be thinking about the tutoring session that Rose was sure she wasn't going to turn up to again. How could she face him, when she had been so carefully avoiding him for the entire week before? How could she face him when the last time they had spoke, they had fought and Rose, out of some bizarre, immature urge for retribution, had blown him off for a silly little party? How could she ignore those facts, when they all seemed to dance about in the forefront of her mind any moment when she caught sight of him? Her guilty conscience could not be assuaged, and Rose couldn't bear an icy hour of study, with anger and blame filling every pause and silence.

But what made it harder, more than her shame at her actions, was the small voice in the back of her head that told Rose that if she gave in to her shame and avoiding Scorpius yet again, that she was more than shameful, more than a disgrace.

No, the small voice told her, she would be a coward.

A small part of Rose never wanted to leave the Ravenclaw tower, if it meant having to face up to what she had done. She didn't want to see her actions reflected back to her, and painted her in colours and shapes that she had hoped never to see as herself. What would her mother say if she knew, or her father? They would be so ashamed, so embarrassed by their daughter and how she was acting. They had raised her to be different than all other children, raised her to be _right_. Yet, here she was, acting like... like...

"Rose? Did you hear me? How does he make you feel?"

"He makes me feel like I... like I'm..." Words caught in her throat, like shards of glass. "He makes me feel like I'm me and that's good enough. But then we fight, and he makes me feel like I'm not a good person for it. I just... I..."

"Rose, we are talking about Jason... right?" There was a hesitance in Pippa's voice that betrayed her true thoughts. She didn't approve of Scorpius, didn't believe that there was anything within him that was good and kind. But she was wrong, and Rose knew it. They were all wrong, and she should go and see Scorpius, go and talk to him and try to figure out how to hold their friendship together. They never should have parted before the summer with the fight between them. Perhaps the damage was so extensive that they would never recover from it, not fully. _They just think they're all so good and proper, so right _all the time_, like being a Weasley or a Potter makes them perfect and infallible. By Merlin Rose, I wish they'd all just disappear, do me a favour and just disappear forever, just _die_. I never want to see any of them ever again in my life, they're all just so worthless..._ She should... she should go and talk to him... retain their friendship... explain herself...

But as the sun sank and the moon grew large in the sky, bright and brilliant, Rose didn't move from her place in the Ravenclaw common room, except to make her way to her dorm and retire to bed, her mind still awash with conflicting thoughts and emotions that clashed together with such violence that it left Rose rattled to the core.

* * *

"Still coming to the trials this weekend?"

"Are you going to ask me this every day?"

Albus grinned. "Well, not every day. I've got Jason asking you tomorrow for me. After all, it's the only day I don't see you first, so I can't just ask you myself without skiving out of my spare, can I?"

Rose arched an eyebrow. "So how do you see me on Friday? We've _both _got study on then, and I hardly think you'll manage to get into the Ravenclaw common room."

"Or find it," Thomas pointed out from Rose's side. He smiled at Albus warmly. "You'd never find it. Not with all of the twisting staircases, trick doors and the numerous possibilities where it could be held. It would take years."

Rose chose not to comment on that particular point. It was well known within the cousins that James possessed the Marauder's Map, and he wasn't particularly fussy as to who borrowed it for short periods of time. Rose had borrowed it herself, and not for any small number of occasions. She had never told James why, though he had suspected that she and Albus had been sneaking into Hogsmeade together, both before and after they had received permission (the adventure never wore off) and she hadn't been that keen to correct him by saying that while, yes, she and Albus had used the map to sneak into Hogsmeade (as had every other cousin – it wasn't a particularly original idea), she used it more commonly to make sure that wherever Scorpius and her were meeting was not likely to be found by any of her relatives. Explaining that particularly situation, especially before Rose had begun tutoring Scorpius, was hardly an easy task.

"It doesn't matter at all then, for you see, seeing as we both have spares, I refuse to accept that our day starts then, and the class _after _is Defence Against the Dark Arts, which we both have, and I can ask you then myself." Albus gave both Thomas and Rose a wide grin. "Now, what do we think that Hagrid will show us on Friday, seeing as we've been through Threstals and Augreys. Which, just for the record, gave me the heebie-jeebies all over. I'm honestly hoping he brings out Hippogriffs once again – I do quite like them. Do you remember that time, in fourth year, when he brought them out, and that git Gaston was scared of them? It was _hilarious_. Oh, a big tough Slytherin, scared of a Hippogriff." Albus laughed, grinning like a cat. "I couldn't stop laughing at him for days."

"Was this also the lesson where _I _refused to go near the Hippogriffs?" Thomas asked, his tone chilled, only the faintest trace of his earlier amusement lingering there. "I do believe it was – I stood at the back barely five meters away from _Lucas_," Thomas emphasised the Slytherin's name pointedly, "and you know what I heard? His sister had been mauled by a rogue Hippogriff when she was five. She was in St. Mungo's for weeks."

Rose sighed, biting the edge of her lip. Trust Albus to put his foot in his mouth, unintentionally or not. "Look Thomas, I'm sure Al didn't mean it like that. He probably just meant..." Words failed her as she tried to find a diplomatic answer. What had Albus meant with that story? That Slytherins were cowardly? Surely even Albus knew better than to generalise, on one such story. And if Albus knew about Lucas... Rose hadn't even known, so surely Albus hadn't known. "Did you know?" Rose asked, brow furrowed as she turned back to Albus. He was blanched, skin pale and eyes wide in what Rose hoped to be shock. "Did you know about his sister?"

Albus shook his head, eyes fixed on Rose. His fingers clasped her wrist, drawing her closer to him. "N-no! Of course not! If I had, I would never have... to think, we ridiculed him – _I _ridiculed him – for _days _about being afraid of the Hippogriff. I thought... I just thought that he couldn't... that he was a coward. Not that you are Thomas," Albus added quickly, not looking at Rose, but over her shoulder at Thomas. Rose could see the sincerity in his eyes, and the shock there, and the horrible weight of the realisation settling down on him. "I just... it was a Gryffindor-Slytherin thing. Oh, it makes me sick right now. No wonder he dropped Care of Magical Creatures after his fourth year. Given that, I wouldn't have continued it either." Albus released Rose's wrist, smiling ruefully at her. She recognised that smile, had seen it enough times before. It was his apologetic smile, the one he wore after everything went wrong and he'd insulted some of his greatest friends. "And I am sorry Thomas."

Thomas, for his part, looked none too gleeful at the apology, merely uncomfortable. "It's okay. Really. I overreacted a little. I should have remembered that you were a Gryffindor and what you say about Slytherins really doesn't count with every other house." There was something sharp in Thomas's tone as he said that, and wrong about the way he turned away from them and walked away from them and towards the greenhouses. Frowning, Rose motioned for Albus to stay where he was, jogging to catch up to Thomas. Placing a hand on his shoulder, she turned him around, searching his face to try and find out what was wrong.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Rose asked. It was hardly the first thing she wanted to say, but it was the words that came out of her mouth. "And what was that about? You're pissed at Al, I get that, I would be too, hell, I _am_. But... I mean..."

Thomas rolled his eyes. "Just stop. You know exactly what I meant, you just refuse to see it. Don't you ever get sick of the double standard? You watch them do it Rose, just pretend that there's this line between Slytherin and all the other houses. And I'll give them this – there _is_. They were chosen to be Slytherins by the Sorting Hat for a reason, just like you are a Ravenclaw and I'm a Hufflepuff and all the rest of your family are pretty much Gryffindor. There's a line. But they conveniently forget this line about you, or me, but must uphold it with Lucas, and Cody, and _every other _Slytherin that has ever been. And maybe it's warranted, with some of them, but sometimes it's not. I just..." Thomas kicked out at a stone, sending it rolling down the path from Hagrid's hut to the greenhouses. "And I didn't tell you because I didn't think that anyone needed to know. I only overheard it, and it wasn't my story to tell. It wasn't that I didn't tell _you_ Rose, I didn't tell _anyone_. Until today that is, and that was just because I knew the reason and I couldn't _stand _the idea of Albus, as nice as he is most of the time, mocking Lucas because of his fear."

"_Warranted _fear." Rose commented, inhaling deeply. "I'm not saying that Albus is perfect, because Merlin knows that he's not. He speaks without thinking – there's no filter between his mouth and his head, or between his head and anything else for that matter. But he's a nice guy."

"I never said he wasn't." Thomas returned, walking once more towards the greenhouses. Rose easily kept pace with his strides, matching the lengths – it was more habit now, than anything else, the product of many years together. "And I'd never say anything to contradict that, because, most of the time, he is. Just like Roxanne and James and Lily and every other Weasley, Potter, Scamander, et cetera, et cetera is. You're all decent, good people, but you've got to realise Rose, that sometimes, you're not. No one is all the time. And I think that you forget that sometimes out of a sense of familial loyalty. And it's at those times, that I have to say something before it starts becoming the norm instead of the exception."

Rose suppressed a small smile. "You're a true Hufflepuff, aren't you?" Rose asked, the smile growing on her face. "_Or if you've an open mind, with a loyal, ready heart._" She sang softly, recalling the song. "And don't you dare point out the fact that I sound like a cat screeching when I sing, otherwise I'm taking back that compliment."

"You're not a cat screeching." Thomas grinned at her, eyes alight with an impish look. "So, it wasn't very good at all, and you can barely carry a tune, but it wasn't quite _that _bad. Though it was close."

"And, to think," Rose replied as she slapped Thomas on the arm, "that I consider you," another slap, "one of my _best_," yet another slap, "friends!" She finished the sentence with a rather powerful backhand to the same place, finding her justice complete and crossed her arms over her chest. "Though it was honest." She admitted.

"Remind me not to be honest with you anymore." Thomas joked, rubbing his arm. He nudged Rose with his shoulder playfully. "_And what of Hufflepuff, the true and honest folk? _Well, I believe I can answer the Sorting Hat's question, don't you? Sorting Hat, sir, those true and honest folk you call Hufflepuffs, will be mercilessly beaten by Ravenclaws with the initials R.W. Okay, ouch, stop that!" Thomas yelped as Rose sent another backhand his way. Though Thomas had hastily covered his arm, he had forgotten his rather open abdominal area, much to his dismay. However, he took the hit with good grace, darting out of Rose's reach and into the crowd of N.E.W.T. Herbology students with a wicked grin on his face. "Try and get me now Rose!" He teased.

Shian, at the back of the crowd, glanced at the Hufflepuff with an arched brow, before focusing her gaze on Rose. "I can get him if you want Rose," she offered, returning Thomas's own wicked grin back at him as she stretched her arms out, her limbs cracking ominously as muscle slid over bone. "I'm quite sure I could get him."

Rose laughed, shaking her head and putting an arm out as she neared Shian, using it to place Shian's arms back by her side. "It's fine, honestly. I think Thomas has been hurt enough this morning. I rather believe that if I punish him anymore, he'll stop being my friend."

Shian shrugged. "Occupational hazard of being our friend I guess." She commented, linking her arms with Rose's. "Now, where is your darling cousin Albus? I want to pick his mind on Quidditch – subtly of course. What kind of spy would I be if I made it obvious?" Shian's smile made it clear to Rose that whatever Shian was planning, it wasn't good – for the Gryffindors at least.

"Oh my, did Pippa put you up to this?" Rose feigned shock and dismay. "However am I meant to be impartial between my family and my house, if they insist upon spying on one another?" She raised the back of her hand to her forehead, sighing loudly as Shian fought to control the growing smile on her face. "By Merlin, I –I think I'm be-being torn in two!" Rose managed out amid the giggles that had overtaken both Shian and herself.

"And here I was thinking that you both were self contained. Well, I guess even a stunningly intelligent Ravenclaw such as myself can be wrong sometimes."

Rose flung herself towards Matt, linking her free arm through his and dragging him closer to Shian. "This is all a facade Matthew, as I expect you to very well know."

"A guise!" Shian added in a conspiratorial whisper.

"And as a Ravenclaw-"

"A stunningly intelligent Ravenclaw?"

"Yes, yes," Rose waved away his words, "as a _stunningly intelligent Ravenclaw_, I suspect you already know why we are wearing this facade, this guise? It is our hope to wrangle information about this year's Quidditch team out of my dear cousin, and this facade-"

"This _guise_."

"Which_ever_, is to lull him into a false sense of security, to make him believe that we want nothing out of him. Do you understand Matthew? Do you see the importance of this mission?"

Matt shook his head, but was grinning as he did so. "All I see are two giggling girls who are having far too much fun for this early in the morning, _especially _considering we're about to be covered with dirt, dragon dung fertiliser and possibly be attacked by the little teething seedlings of the Venomous Tentacula." He paused for a moment, staring straight through the pair of them. "Actually, no, we _will _get attacked by the seedlings. The little buggers can't keep their vines away from anything. I heard from Corinne Posey that, apparently, one of the little seedlings likes to grope. A lot. Especially when it comes to Xander Gannon."

Shian was the first to explode into a fit of renewed giggles, followed closely by Rose. "The seedlings... they... they were _groping _Xander Gannon?" Rose asked in disbelief. "Oh, that's _priceless_! I wondered why he was covered in all those little scratches but I never thought... never _imagined_ that it was the seedlings!"

Shian however, was thinking differently. "So the seedlings like boys, do they? Well Matt, I guess you're just going to have to be our sacrifice. For the cause, of course, all in the name of Herbology!"

Matt's eyes widened. "No, _no_! I'm not about to let a bunch of plants start trying to grope me! Not even for you guys!" He untangled himself from Rose's grip, and tried to stare both Rose and Shian, still giggling, down. "No! Rose, you saw the scratches! I'm not about to get torn up because of some... some..."

"Thorny plants?" Rose suggested.

Shian giggled even further, bringing a hand up to her mouth to smother the sound. "Oh, I _know _you weren't thinking just of _thorny _plants."

"All right, that's enough back there! Quieten down Miss Weasley, Miss Warrun!" Professor Longbottom called from the front of the crowd. Rose jumped at his seemingly sudden arrival, blushing deeply. Beside her, Shian shrugged, her hand still clasped firmly against her mouth as the last of her giggles slowly subsided.

"Don't look so horrified Rose," Matt leaned in and whispered in her ear. "Professor Longbottom loves you enough to overlook even the largest of infractions on your part."

"Yes, sure, tell that to Roxanne. She _still _remembers that month long detention she got for the prank she pulled last year, which, might I add, she did not even get to complete." Rose murmured back as the crowd started to walk into Greenhouse Six. "She was most upset. Not about the detention, because seriously, she's had enough now to not have any trouble with them, but mostly because she couldn't complete the prank."

"No offence to Roxanne, but placing the Venomous Tentacula right under James' bed – probably not safe. Or healthy." Matt commented offhandedly.

Rose nodded. "Oh, I know. I'm pretty sure that was the point."

Matt shook his head in bewilderment as he led both Shian and Rose down the length of the greenhouse to find a spot (which, Rose noted with amusement, was possibly as far away from the Venomous Tentacula and the line of its seedlings as one could be).

"Open your books to page 142 please." Professor Longbottom requested, walking between the lines of benches, slapping away a stray vine of the Venomous Tentacula as it inched closer to him, as the students bent to their bags and brought out their books. "What we'll be studying today, and once again on Friday, are the North American Somniculosis plant. Now, can anyone tell me exactly what these plants are? Miss Weasley?"

Rose smiled. "The North American Somniculosis, or _Amplexus Somnus _plant, are one of the only three cannibalistic plants, and grow at astonishing rates in the Arctic tundra environment."

"Correct," Professor Longbottom, reaching the front of the class, and peering at the class. "And can anyone else tell me their uses? Miss Weasley, again, if you'd be so kind?"

"The North American Somniculosis has many uses, but they are most useful in their adolescence stage, a period of three days, in which their leaves are full of hormones that are used extensively in remedial potions to promote calmness and sleep. At their adult stage, they secrete these potent hormones into the air, and, if you remain in their presence for more than five minutes, you could fall to sleep and never wake. The leaves, when harvested at this stage, are full of far more potent hormones and are used in the Draught of Living Death."

"Excuse me sir," Emily Spall, a tiny Hufflepuff, called out, her brow furrowed. "How exactly are they cannibalistic? The book says they look much like any other plant, excepting in their colouring, of course."

Professor Longbottom did not look displeased to be asked a question, and, much like always, he never looked like the answer was obvious. "Miss Spall, these plants, much like the African Leech Fungi we studied last week, are parasitic. When they take root in the earth, the roots search not only for nutrients, but also for other plants of their kind. Upon finding them, they take root _within _them, effectively furthering their own root network without effort on their part. Both plants can live like this for many days, allowing an even greater network of roots to form to feed the plant, before the lesser plant is killed – starved, if you will, of all nutrients needed to survive. For you see, the greater plant draws nutrients not only from what the roots bring to it, but also from the plant. Interestingly, the only exhibit this effect upon their own kind. Thus, their cannibalistic nature."

Seeing no other questions, he continued. "Now, our plants are in the middle of their adolescence – it means the amount of this hormone within their leaves is at its most stable and constant, and the best time to pick them. I want you all to grab a tray of these plants and, not only repot them, but pick the leaves of the alpha, or leader, plant as well as taking away the dead plants before there is any chance of poisoning the alpha. Be aware that this plant does tend to put up a fight giving up its leaves, and pay careful attention to _not ripping them_ unless you would like to be in the Hospital Wing for the rest of the week. Also, please spread out. These roots will grow at a near exponential rate as soon as they are out of the earth, and having three students with intermingled roots is _not _a problem I wish to repeat. Begin whenever you are ready."

All at once, there was a buzz of activity as students jostled their way towards the trays of the Somniculosis trays. Rose recognised them immediately – they were plants consisting of flat, pale leaves, near white or the lightest grey in colouring that, rather than growing _up_, spread out to cover more ground. They survived best in colder conditions (which explained why a freezing charm had left icicles clinging to the leaves), native to the tundras and icy plains rather than dense deserts, and could often grow to spread over miles, rather than metres. They were most commonly found on mountains, covered under snow, and were responsible for deaths which Muggles attributed simply to falling asleep due to exhaustion in extremely cold conditions. Handling them required care, and a respect for the plant and it's properties.

A hand reached out and curled around Rose's shoulder. "Just letting you know, Albus is trying to steal your place. He's right by the Tentacula seedlings and word is spreading that they like to explore."

Rose turned, arching an eyebrow at Jason. "And so he'd be willing to sacrifice me? Hardly a _noble _or _courageous_ thing for him to do, is it? I must say, I'm disappointed him." She grinned at Jason, casting an eye over Jason's shoulder to see if Albus had indeed claimed her spot by Shian and Matt. "And are you going to do the same, brutally take over an innocent person's seat as to escape the _unspeakable horror_ of the Tentacula seedlings?"

Jason was grinning broadly at Rose. _Boys don't usually smile that much without certain reasons. _Rose felt her cheeks heat up simply at the thought. No, it was nothing like that! Pippa was wrong – they were just _friends _and rivals and that was _it_. "Of course not, I'm much more of a gentleman than Albus. I'll protect you from the seedlings." For a moment, Jason was smirking, happy and confident in himself, as Rose waited patiently, returning his smirk, for Jason to realise that his words could possibly have been construed as an insult on Rose. "Not that you'd need it, being female and all!" He added hastily. "I was just meaning that ... well, I'll get back to you on why you need protecting, if that's okay by you."

Rose laughed, waving away his words. "It's fine, honestly, I was just taking the mickey out of you. It's what I do, after all."

"Hardly. Wait a second," Jason darted through the throng of students and emerged a few seconds later with two trays of the light grey plants. He offered one out to Rose. "Here you go Rose. Now, we've just got to find a seat. If we can get out of this crowd that is."

"Always a difficult thing." Rose commented, accepting the tray. At least two plants were growing within the tray, their stems and leaves entangling every which way. There may have been a third plant, but without closer inspection, Rose wasn't sure at all. It simply could have been but a larger plant with a smaller. The crowd lurched forward with a yelp, pushing Rose towards Jason. "I'm willing to bet that someone just remembered that the adult Tentacula is also present. Want to take my wager?"

"You're really quite fond of bets, aren't you?" Jason enquired, curling his fingers around Rose's left hand and leading her through the crowd as he spied an exit. "I've noticed that. Didn't really expect it though – you never really seemed like the betting type to me. At least, from the outside. Aren't you Ravenclaws meant to be against things that rely on luck? Much more of a risk than anything else, right?"

"Oh, to be sure. Look, there's a seat up there." Rose pointed out a free corner in the greenhouse. "But my bets aren't sheer luck. I don't simply write down names and pick them out of the hat to choose who will win and lose – I carefully weigh up the odds, the known facts, the conditions, all such relevant details. And, also, I only make wagers I'm relatively confident I will win with. As of yet, I've never lost one."

Jason laughed. "Good philosophy." He replied as they walked towards the vacant corner. "Of course, these seats are right near the teething Tentaculas, you do realise?"

"It's why they're empty, of course. Is that a problem?" Rose queried, taking a seat and gently starting to pull the leaves of the Somniculosis plants away from one another. "Where's your Gryffindor courage man?" She joked, glancing over at Albus who was grinning rather cheerfully next to Matt as Rose shot him a fierce glare.

"Otherwise engaged, but I'm sure it will return momentarily." He took the seat to Rose's right, placing Rose between him and the seedlings, which, Rose noticed, were moving with a careful deliberation towards them. Well, there was no way anyone would doubt that they were Tentacula seedlings at least. "See, already back! Even if it did require a rather cowardly act to regain it... but you know what Professor Ward said, even a cowardly act can be considered a victory."

"I'm sure he was meaning when coming up against the Dark forces of the world, but if you count groping seedlings as evil, I'm sure it applies just as equally." Rose countered. Empty trays and bags of soil and fertiliser floating down the length of the tables, landing with a resounding thud in the middle of the table. She glanced at Jason's own tray of plants. "Merlin, you might want to get started on that. It's a complete mess. Look at that." Rose tentatively lifted up a mass of tangled leaves and stems with a finger. "You've got at least four plants there."

Jason appeared to be reconsidering his choice of tray as well. "No chance of swapping?" His tone was rueful. "No? I'll be back, here's to hoping there's a better tray left after the hyenas have left."

Rose chuckled. "I'll tell you what, I'm not willing to bet on that."

"Thanks for the cheery thought." Jason returned, a touch sarcastic. Grabbing his tray in one hand, and gently clasping Rose's arm, he leaned forward to whisper in her ear, breath moving a few stray strands of hair. "Absolutely _no _chance of swapping?"

Rose could almost feel the shivers working their way from her ear through every muscle in her body right down to her toes. Oh, she could see now why people thought Jason was so charming – he was warm and without inhibition, acting without hesitation. He already acted in a charming manner, always smiling and touching, never inappropriately but always there, and it was never countered by a lack of confidence in himself that would prevent the charm from across. She turned her head slightly so she could see his profile, strong boned and smiling, from the corner of her eye. "No, none at all."

He made a show of looking disheartened as he crossed the room back towards the table of plants, Rose shaking her head as she watched him. Slowly, Rose began scooping soil from the tray, careful not to damage the roots that were just underneath the surface. It was easier to tell the alpha plant from the others as the roots were exposed – it's roots were thick and white, while all others were smaller, in various stages of decay and shrivelling due to the parasitic nature of the alpha plant, turning grey and black as they died.

"He's a bit of a show pony, isn't he? Don't you get annoyed by that?"

Rose jumped in surprise, accidently nicking a root of the alpha plant with the sharp blade of a pair of scissors in her hand, but almost before Rose could call out for Professor Longbottom, the root was already moving, digging deeper into a decaying root of another plant and healing as the other died. Exponential growth indeed. Placing the scissors down carefully, Rose turned. "You scared me Scorpius, why'd you have to sneak up on me like that?"

Scorpius, with his perfect poker face, had on an expression of complete neutrality. "Well, that's the most words I've gotten out of you in a week. Nice to know that you're not completely avoiding me."

Rose sighed, hands placed firmly against the greenhouse table. She stared down at the tray of plants, watching as the roots wormed their way deeper into the soil. "I'm not avoiding you Scorpius," she began, aware that it wasn't the _complete _truth, but Scorpius snorted in contempt for her words and Rose waited, brow arched and expression foreboding, daring Scorpius to interrupt her.

"Oh really? Then what do you call what you've been doing this past week? By the way, that was the second tutoring session you missed last night, just in case you aren't keeping track. And, yet again, I was waiting in the library for you to arrive, but you never did." His poker face was slipping, letting his annoyance and anger slip through. Each word stabbed, but still Rose didn't lift her head and look at him. "I didn't know that even if you were angry at me, that you would go so far as to actually sabotage my academics."

"Oh, that's just not true!" Rose hissed out, finally looking up at him with anger in her eyes. How could he even think that of her? She understood that he was angry with her, but that was crossing a line. "Think what you will of me Scorpius, but you _know _that I'm not that... that _petty_!" She burst out, struggling to keep her voice down. "And you know what, this is exactly why they all say that I shouldn't be friends with you, because it's quite obvious that it will never work. You're like a wounded animal, lashing out at anyone near you – it's _just _like the fight last year, just like every time you say something because you're hurt and you end up hurting others. Don't you _care _about the fact that you do that?"

For a moment, there was silence, Scorpius simply staring at Rose with wide eyes. "Is _that _what you think of me? And who is _they_ might I ask? Are _they _so great and mighty that you have to choose them over your friends?"

"_They are my friends!_" Rose managed to spit out, eyes blazing. "My friends and this ominous _they _which you seem to be obsessing over are one in the same. And you know what they say? They say you're a git, that you're not as nice as you appear and I shouldn't trust you as far as I can throw you. And if this is how you react because I don't turn up to _two_ tutoring sessions, one of which, might I add, I did not arrange and was not informed of, then I think I may add overly sensitive to the list. I didn't turn up to the first because I got sidetracked, and I meant to come. I meant to only stay at Albus's party for a little while, half an hour at the most, just to..." She trailed off. _Just to cool off so I could face you again. _"But I lost track of time –"

It was obvious as soon as she said it that bringing up Albus's party had been a mistake. All at once, Scorpius's expression of barely containing anger changed to one of sincere hurt. "Let me get this straight," Scorpius said slowly, breathing in and out in a very deliberate manner. "You blew me off for some cousin who consistently drags you away from your friends –"

"He's my _family!_"

"I'm your _friend_!" Scorpius returned sharply. "Do you doubt that or something? Because I _am_ Rose."

"Yet look at how you act. We can't get along for two weeks without fighting Scorpius."

"And the only time we ever fight is when we talk about –"

Whatever Scorpius was about to say would forever remain a mystery as Jason returned. "Am I interrupting something here?"

Rose pulled back from Scorpius, looking back down at her feet. "Nothing at all. I was just arranging to tutor Scorpius next Thursday evening. I'll be there at seven if you like."

Jason half grinned. "Couldn't we all use a little tutoring from Rose? Oh, just be wary Scorpius, the Tentacula seedlings have almost reached you."

Scorpius turned around as Jason darted past him, placing a new tray of plants on the table. True enough, the seedlings had extended small, fragile vines closer to Scorpius, ready to curl around his legs and arms, their small thorns ready to prick skin. Scorpius batted them away from him impatiently. "Thanks," he muttered in the general direction of Jason, unwilling to look Jason in the eye. "I'll see you next Thursday then."

And then, with his eyes hard and expression stony, Scorpius turned and walked away.

"I _was_ interrupting something, wasn't I?" Jason murmured as Rose turned back to her tray of plants.

She sighed, picking at the entangled roots. "Nothing that I didn't wish to be stopped."

* * *

"Heard you and Scorpius had a bit of a fight yesterday. Jason didn't tell me what about, but I know you don't really like fights much." Roxanne leaned her head against Rose's shoulder. "I could hex him if you like. I'm quite good at it, or so I'm told."

Rose smiled at her cousin. "Don't worry about me – worry about the bludgers Albus is going to have sailing towards you in about ten minutes time. I still can't believe that you get a kick out of being a Beater. It's a little bit like having a death wish, isn't it?" Rose thumbed the handle of Roxanne's broom – which laid across both their laps as they sat side by side in the stands of the Quidditch pitch – idly. "Is Lily nervous about trials? What about Lorcan?"

"Or what about Jason?" Roxanne replied in a singsong voice, shouldering Rose gently. "Albus saw the two of you getting cosy yesterday in Herbology, leaning over the same tray, helping each other out..." Roxanne sighed wistfully, voice trailing off dreamily. "Is love in the air? I think it is, and I must say, I do approve of Jason. He's nice, a good team player, a fair Chaser... and he's handsome, don't you think? Always a good thing to be snogging a boy who's easy on the eye."

Rose blushed, laughing with Roxanne. "I'll admit you've got a point there, but it's not _everything_. Initial attraction is based purely on physical aspects, I'll admit that, but _love_, lasting attractions is much deeper, about personalities and compatibility. Now stop gossiping about my love life and start warming up for the Quidditch trials otherwise you won't get in and you'll put a dent in all of Albus's plans for winning the Quidditch cup this year."

Roxanne stood, grabbing her broom and swinging it over her shoulder. "Stop fussing, I'll get in. I've been training like mad during the holidays – Dad fixed me a makeshift bludger or two at home. Makes an absolute mess of things, but otherwise it's just like the real one, even destroys the house the same way a real one does." Roxanne's grin stretched from one side of her face to the other. "Mum's a bit annoyed when I let it out but Dad couldn't be happier – says I'm carrying on the legacy of brilliant beaters in the Weasley family."

"Which you are."

Roxanne's grin changed to a satisfied smirk. "Which I am." She agreed. "Oh look, Albus is here. Hello Albus! Up here!" Roxanne called, waving her arms about to garner Albus's attention. He looked about the Quidditch stands for several moments before catching sight of them and waved back. "I swear, he's as blind as a bat, just like Uncle Harry. Well, the crowd's going to turn up any minute now, I might as well go and meet my competition. Wish me luck?"

"Of course. You won't need it though." Bringing a book out of the folds of her cloak, Rose settled into her seat. "I'll be here of course, if you need anything of me. Which I doubt. I'm simply moral support here." Flipping open the book, and burying her nose within it, Rose raised a hand to wave her cousin away. "Now go, leave me in peace and go beat something up."

Roxanne laughed. "Shall do."

It was as Roxanne predicted – the mob of hopeful students arrived at the Quidditch pitch a few minutes after Albus's arrival. The crowd was easily larger than the number of hopefuls from previous years, and it was a measure of Albus's self control that he did not appear phased by the large crowd. And despite Rose's intention to read during the tryouts, she found herself watching the tryouts instead. A large number of the students were fair flyers, with a much smaller proportion of those being anything more – Lorcan, Lily and Roxanne all part of that small group.

Fliers were eliminated in a slow process, in the spirit of fairness. Fair fliers did not mean a lack of Quidditch talent, not necessarily. A particularly talented beater by the name of Isaac Walker was only a middling flier, but easily surpassing every other candidate for the Beater positions with his nigh on perfect aim with a Bludger, including Roxanne who regarded the fifth year with interest and respect plain in her eyes. The competition for Chasers was much more time consuming. Fliers were talented, fast and many were capable of scoring, even when they faced up against Albus himself. Lily, despite her youth, was still a stand out Chaser, scoring quickly and passing the Quaffle effectively through the team, while Jason, as Roxanne had said, was a team player, contributing greatly to the advancement of the teams of Chasers that waded through the many prospective Beaters. The position of Seeker though, was much easier to fill than any other. Lorcan easily outflew the competition – small and slim as he was, he simply seemed to skim through the air rather than fly through it, darting through the throngs of Chasers and Bludgers with a focus on the Snitch that never wavered. Slowly, the prospective team was narrowed down, the unfortunate taking a seat in the stands to watch the remaining prospective team members be put through their paces yet again.

Eventually, it was just the Chasers that remained, once Albus had managed to quieten a pair of disgruntled would-be Beaters who insisted they could fly better than Isaac Walker (and Rose had to admit, they could, but one was also a shocking aim and had managed to hit Albus in the back of the head with the bat, and the other was too easily distracted and had allowed a Bludger to knock a Chaser out). The group of prospective Chasers was still ridiculously large – fourteen hopefuls and only three places available – and the competition had become intense. A test of agility had managed to limit the group to ten, but the test of accuracy hadn't managed to cull the group down any further. For the first time that Rose could remember, Lily, the ridiculously talented flier Lily, looked worried about her chances, biting on her lip and fidgeting from her broom.

"Okay guys, we're going to do a time trial. Oi!" Albus yelled out as the group began to protest rather noisily about the unfairness of it all. "Shut up you lot! I don't care about what model broom you've got, you're going to all use mine. Fastest five from one goal post to the other will be put through their paces again – and don't complain. I _know _it's taking a lot time but think of it as a compliment. You guys are all _excellent _fliers and I'd be lucky to have you all on my team, but I can't –"

"Oh, for Merlin's sake Potter, just choose some random three and give us the pitch. You're already half an hour into our time and the day's not getting any longer."

Rose turned her gaze from Albus, frowning, catching sight of the Slytherins standing at the edge of the Quidditch pitch. It was obvious that Cody had been the caller, for she stood ahead of the rest, arms crossed over her chest. Cursing under her breath, Rose gathered her book and cloak, standing and walking towards the Quidditch pitch. Already she could see some of the Gryffindors looking more than half annoyed at the intrusion.

"I know I'm running overtime, but give me til the end of the hour and I'll be gone, I swear. As you can see, I had a few trying out." Albus walked towards the Slytherins, looking straight at Scorpius as he approached him. Taking the steps down two at a time, with the faces of both the Gryffindors and Slytherins growing increasingly more defined, Rose could see that neither of the two parties looked particularly impressed with the other.

"Well, you should have booked the whole day then. As it is, you're in our time so get off our pitch." Cody replied, standing her ground. Cody looked particularly cold as she stood by Scorpius, eyes trained specifically on Albus. Once, just once, Rose thought she saw Cody glance at her as Rose approached the two groups, and Cody's expression change slightly to one of bewilderment, but almost straight away, she was as cold and remote as ever.

"Cody, leave it be." Scorpius whispered, eyes glancing at Rose. She held his gaze, feeling like it was a punch in her stomach to do so, but held it until he was the one who turned away.

"It's not _your _pitch." Annise Bevan, a second year Gryffindor, hissed out. "And you heard what Albus said. It's not his fault so many people wanted to try out for a decent team." Annise glanced over the group of Slytherins behind Scorpius with derision. "Which is probably more than you can claim." She sneered.

"Annise!" Another Chaser, a fourth year this time, grabbed Annise's hand and pulled her back into the group. "Don't talk like that!"

"No, no, let her continue." Cody smiled without any humour. "I, for one, am very interested in what she has to stay for herself. Continue Annise, what exactly do you feel about us Slytherins?" Cody took a step forward, only to find herself blocked by the fourth year stepping in front of her.

"Don't even think of hurting Annise, or I swear to God, I'll hex you – "

"To what? What can a fourth year do which I can't?" Cody laughed. "Nice to see that Gryffindors are as smart as ever."

"Cody! _Enough. _Leave her alone." Scorpius snapped out the words. For a moment, Cody looked taken back by the harsh sharpness in Scoprius words, but brushed it off easily as she stepped back to his side. She shrugged off the words as if they weighed nothing at all. "We're not here to start a fight Potter, we just want the Quidditch pitch. We've given you an extra half hour of our time, and that's really all I can Potter – I need all the remaining time for my own tryouts, something I thought you'd appreciate. The pitch will be free tomorrow – maybe you can continue tomorrow? I'm sure your Head won't disapprove of the thought, and it would keep your candidates fresh."

"Half an hour." Albus repeated stubbornly. "That's all I'm asking for, another half hour. Be reasonable Malfoy. Surely you can find it somewhere within you to give me half an hour? As Annise did point out, your number of candidates is much smaller than mine, so surely you won't need all the time –"

Rose winced as the words sunk in, and Cody arched a dark eyebrow in disbelief. "Are you suggesting that because I'm trying out the Slytherin Quidditch team, and you the Gryffindor, that somehow your team is more important than mine?" Scorpius's tone was chilled. Rose stepped forward, stopping by Albus's side. She placed a hand on his arm, but Albus did not turn his gaze from Scorpius. Leaning forward to catch Jason's eye, Rose tried to convey that they were all treading on perilously thin ice. "Because, if I might remind you, currently both teams are the Quidditch champions." Scorpius continued.

"We were leading by one hundred and forty points!" Annise returned in a yell. "How does that make you equal to us?"

"Of course I'm not saying that my team is more important than yours," Albus returned, and though his words sounded peaceable, Rose could tell through his clenched jaw, that they wouldn't remain so for long. "But my need is greater, and need trumps your sense of pride. Now, if you don't mind, get off _my _pitch so I can finish my tryouts. Half an hour is all I need Malfoy, and I'm not giving you this pitch before then. So be on your way and I'll be gone by the time you return."

"Not acceptable. I've booked the pitch. Just because you had it first, doesn't mean you own it." Was it just Rose's imagination, or did Scorpius glance at her? Yes, he did – and he didn't look too pleased to see her there. "Can't you tell your cousin to honour his commitments? I thought honour and chivalry was meant to be some kind of Gryffindor trait, but you'll have to forgive me if I'm wrong."

Rose opened her mouth to speak, but Albus cut over her. "Oh that's right, you can't fight your own wars, so you'll just be a coward and get my _cousin _to fight them for you. Am I meant to be impressed by your show of cowardice?"

As Albus and Scorpius stared each other down, unaware of the others around them and not willing to be the first to look away, other verbal wars had begun to wage, the two teams stepping closer and closer together. "You couldn't deal with the fact that we may beat you, so you had to have a cheap shot and ruin _our _victory." A Slytherin returned. "So you owe us Slytherins a favour, so get off our pitch you little brat."

The fourth year shook his head. "Shut up you arrogant git! You and your house are nothing but a pile of toerags that should be thrown out of –"

Rose was certain she must have blinked, for one moment the fourth year was insulting the Slytherins, and the next, both Gryffindors and Slytherins were wrestling with each other, either physically or verbally. Scorpius was busy trying to pull another Slytherin off the fourth year, while Albus was pushing other Slytherins away from the Gryffindors. Roxanne however, was neither protecting the Gryffindors or seeking to end the conflict, but right in the middle of it, punching a Slytherin who had, just moments before, yelled out to the general audience that Gryffindors were nothing but a bunch of proud cowards who went back on their word every chance they got. It was an all out brawl, the tensions that had been simmering just under the surface exploding under the very slightest provocation.

"Stop, _stop!_" Rose screeched out. Lily, white faced and trembling, stood outside of the brawl, backing away slowly, as Lorcan stood by her, also pale. That, at least, was a blessing. Seeing the nearest pair, Rose drew her wand. "_Stupefy!_" She cast the spell twice, stunning both brawlers, who were pushed backwards by the force of the spell, and left dazed in the grass of the pitch. "Oh for God's sake, all of you stop!" Rose hauled a Slytherin from a Gryffindor, thrusting him towards Scorpius. "Can't _you_ control them Scorpius?"

"So you're choosing family over friends again?" He muttered lowly and Rose groaned in exasperation as she stunned another pair of brawlers.

"This is not family over friends Scorpius, this is common sense. This is stupid and unnecessary and – _for the love of all that is holy, stop right now!_"

Rose didn't know what caused the crowd to stop – the normally quiet Ravenclaw's roar, or the flurry of stunning spells and jinxs that Rose sent out. She felt like she was on the verge of tears out of pure frustration. "You are all utter _idiots_," Rose hissed out. "What kind of _fools_ make a brawl out of Quidditch? If teachers were here, they'd have given you all detention for weeks, and while that may be some kind of achievement for you all, I fail to see the appeal in it." Turning to Albus, Rose glared at him. "And what kind of captains can't even keep their teams in line for ten minutes? Who are so obsessed with one upping each other that they let everything turn to utter chaos?" She looked between Scorpius and Albus, the latter of whom managed to look shamed. "How would you possibly be able to play any kind of good Quidditch if you can't keep them under control. And Annise..." The second year gulped as she stood. "You would do well to _hold your tongue_. As would you." Rose glanced at the Slytherin, who looked neither shamed nor embarrassed to be called out for his hand in creating the brawl.

Grinding her teeth, Rose turned on her heel and walked away.

* * *

_Disclaimer: all of this ultimately belongs to J.K. Rowling (characters, setting, the world, basically everything you recognise). The plot, the writing – that's mine. No stealing. I have a man eating giant bunny on loan to track you down and gobble you. You have been warned._

* * *

**WARNING: LONG AUTHOR'S NOTE WITH REVIEW RESPONSES. I BLAME THE LENGTH ON YOKOELRIC. AND A RATHER LONG RESPONSE TO .. I BLAME IT ON SHARED NATIONALITY.**

I am so sorry for the long delay – I have no excuse. So, extra long chapter to make some amends? A lot of you may wonder the point of the chapter, but it's character development, which I do love. =)

Wow. Okay. So I have a lot of people to thank right now, and it's really crazy, because Ashwinder was kind of my first foray into the world of and I only started it, really, because my other bajillion stories took too much effort and all my muses were dying. Yep, that's my secret. That's not to say that I don't love it, it's now my baby, but it was easy to start because I already had a world and a basis to stick to... so...

Anyway. Thanks goes, in no particular order, to **thestarlitrose **for the review and favourite story, **Intriguedndhb **for the favourite, **wow **once more for the review, **This is a new fav **for the review, **luna**-**lovegood**-**77 **for the favourite story and review,** Aranel Mirfain **for the review and favourite, **Requiem for a Saint **for the story alert, **snowflake26 **for the review, **Blood and Dark Chocolate **for the favourite story, **. **for the story alert and review and **YokoElric **for your dedication in giving me a favourite author, favourite story and four individual chapter reviews. It blew me away. Now, my ordinary format for review response will not work because of the huge number, so, introducing the _ReviewReponsinator1.2_!

** thestarlitrose**

Thank you! I still haven't figured out exactly how Scorpius plays out in my head (these characters more often than not take on a life of their own) but I don't think we'll see him change much throughout the story, as I also like him as he is. I wonder if you'll enjoy my take on a few others... ;)

** wow**

Weak minded coward. Cool. I hadn't heard my Rose described as that before. It's always interesting to hear other points of view. To be honest, I hadn't planned on Rose annoying people, so I'm sorry, but I'm going to be honest and say that I'm not changing Rose for anything. If that costs your reading, I'm sorry, but this story has to play out a certain way, and I'm not going to toy with the story. Sorry. =(

** This is a new fav**

Thank you! I will definitely keep at this, cause it's my babeh, but I can't promise any set dates on reviews. I just started uni (and am sufficiently swamped with homework), I've got another story to finish, but I like this story too much to let it die. And if it does, I will take it down and rewrite it. Let's just say, it will, one day, be finished.

** luna-lovegood-77**

I will never tell! No, I purposely left that out, mostly because it didn't feel right to reveal it then and there, and it will be revealed. When... well, you'll have to read to find that out. Also, thank you. All these reviews have me blushing. =)

** snowflake26**

I can't take credit for the man-eating bunny; it's something from a past rpg I was in, but I will pass on the message that you enjoyed his gobblingness.

I try to be thorough – I had the whole idea of coming to JK's world, and trying to stay as true to it as I could, almost because in the back of my mind, there's this AU story which is nowhere near close to her world, so it's kind of like compensation... heh heh... I wasn't aware that I'd thrown in some real wild drama, but I guess, really, life is wild drama anyway so you're good there! I will try to update regularly, I will, I will, but it's just... schedules and muses do not mix. But thank you!

** Aranel Mirfain**

First of all, cool name! I likes it a lot. Second of all, thank you. Will we meet more Slytherins? I really hope so, I'm not too sure. I have a lot of the major points plotted, but I have leeway on the smaller items, so it's quite possible. Either way, meeting Slytherins is important to this story for many reasons. Will the friendship survive? I don't know (well, yes I do but I won't tell). I'm surprised you (and so many others) have grown to like Cody so fast! She was written to be this really prickly character, so it surprises me that you all do. In a good way though.

** YokoElric.**

First of all, WOW. Four reviews – that's dedication. Most people mass review it (I am guilty of this), but four individual reviews... that's dedication and enthusiasm. So... WOW. Thank you!

Okay, let's address one at a time.

Chapter one: I hope not overly anxious! About the balance... I don't know. Sometimes it's too much dialogue, other times not enough... it's all about feel, and it differs for each person, but I'm glad that it suits you. And, you're welcome.

Chapter two: Why, hello! About chapter length... I can't _stand_ short chapters. Like, I get having a tiny one as a prologue or a teaser, but consistently short chapters irks me to no end. Don't know why. Each of these chapters are around 9 to 10 pages (a few a little longer) in ordinary Calibri, size 11 (so it's a bit longer in Times New Roman, size 12), so it's a fair effort to write them and I'm glad that so many people are enjoying the size, rather than requesting smaller chapters. Especially as the plot goes on, because I'm going to need long chapters soon. And your reviews aren't silly, they're heart warming (I mean it, the deep, chilled cockles of my heart are practically glowing with radiant heat right now, thanks to you and the other reviews). You enjoy where the story is going? Cool, but I keep twitching at that, because I can promise some mixing up as the story progresses and lots of drama. Every time someone says that it makes me worried. O_O

Yes, another score for Matt! I love Matt, I do. He's just... oh, words fail me. ;) He was actually a character I thought would be barely there, because when I started this story it was mainly focusing on Rose and Scorpius and their story, but as I plotted, several little subplots came out and all Rose's friends fleshed out and now we have the delightful Matt and Shian and Alexis and Thomas and all those. I want to squeeze in more of the others, like Norah and the Scamander twins, but all the different timetables (which I have plotted – it's insanity) and houses make it hard. =(

Yes, the Sorting Hat affected people! That was where I really hoped that you'd get an emotional investment in Rose, and it seemed to pay off, at least with you (now I feel like I'm manipulating you too much... _ ). It was a fun scene to right, but at the same time difficult, because it's a major moment in Rose's life as it helps to define who and what she is, at least in her mind. I can safely say that she will be revisiting that memory once again. How, when and why, I'm not saying.

Chapter three: I tend to think that Uncle George has general trait infectiveness. You stay around him long enough, and you become a bit of a mischief maker too. That being said, all of Rose's cousins are a little bit the same way – a little mischievous and joking, with James and Roxanne being two of the biggest (just wait til Roxanne comes out with her pranks...), so it had to be expected, right?

Yesh... I love "Shian" too. Based it off a friend – not the character, but the name. It just... love. 3.

Will Albus give Scorpius a chance? Is it too late for James? Will I reveal these answers? No. But to which question that goes to... well, it's fairly obvious, but guess anyway. And yes, Hagrid. I always thought, if given the right students, and the right atmosphere, he'd be a brilliant teacher, because he knows it all, hands on. And that's why I gave him Professor Dyanne as an assistant, to help keep Hagrid's confidence up and to moderate Hagrid's urges to show really dangerous creatures at inappropriate ages. I believe, I do, that once Hagrid set himself up confidently enough, that the rest would be no sweat for him. He just needed to find a comfortable niche to fit in.

Is there a parallelism between the Thestrals and Slytherin/Scorpius? Well, yes, I was very heavy handed when I wrote it. Does it exist for more than just them? Yes. That parallelism is for many different issues, because the issue is widely relevant. I'm thrilled you picked up on it! Will we get to know the person Rose saw die? Uh, no, they're dead and they're not a ghost... jk, jk. Yes we will, but not at this stage.

Chapter four: last chapter! I will try to update, but again, no promises. Patience is a virtue? Eh, dunno about that. I guess I wanted to portray the Grey Lady a bit... more? In JK's world, we see very little of her, but she's such a hard character to get to know or enjoy, but the other Ravenclaws seem to like her. In any case, there's never anything said about her which is horrible! So, I figure, she must be a nice enough person, when you're not talking about diadems and Slytherins with her. Of interest, what were you thinking about?

The Scorpius/Rose... it is necessary, if that consoles you a little, and it won't be forever. Bear in mind that both Scorpius and Rose really like their friendship with each other, and as it is, they've only just come off a big fight with one another about Rose's family. Basically, things are complicated.

I agree about the whole Albus/Cody/Rose topic. I do. But I'm not telling you anything about it. =P About Scorpius, yes, it's sad, but it's a reality. People will hate you for your parents, or if you're smart or talented, or if you're this or that, especially in a closed community like Hogwarts, where everyone knows everyone for generations beforehand. It's true, not only in their world, but in ours as well. But um... please don't punch Rose? This story has very many chapters and very many layers, and they are all heading towards about five different end games, with Rose's journey being kind of the most important. So, I need her conscious please.

And yes, life and school are progressing nicely. =)

** cynic . in . a . fishbowl . /Adela**

Thank you! It always makes my day to see a review in my inbox. And I don't mind that the word isn't legit – half the time I don't do much within the confines of reality either, so it's pretty eh. Writing angst comes naturally to me, but I think it's because you have to understate it, in a way. You can't just come out with it like 'OH NOES SOMEONE DID SOMETHING AND OH NO SHE DIDN'T!' because then it just feels too overdramatic and fake. Or maybe you've got to live in your character's skin, because angst really is nothing more than indecision, isn't it? It's being troubled, and to convey that, you've got to hook the reader in and make them feel what the character feels? I don't know even know if that makes sense, or exactly how I do it, but I'd like to think I do it that way! =)

Wow, I can't believe I was still in year twelve when I posted chapter three! *sheepish* I need to write more. I completed year twelve last year in a regional school in Victoria, and have since moved to Melbourne to go to university. Let me tell you, they aren't kidding when they say that university is harder than high school. I did VCE, so it was only two years of hell, but I (kind of) enjoyed it (mostly). So glad that we don't have HSC down here. I hear it's hell, though I also hear it's meant to be easier than VCE (maybe because it's three years of school, not two?). In terms of my English exam, we didn't do much in terms of creative writing, except in our context studies. I found that writing, not just fanfiction, but roleplaying games, general writing, all of that helped me immensely to develop a voice for these pieces, which were often either persuasive essays or newspaper articles (expository pieces). In that way, I don't regret how much writing I did in my final VCE years – not only does it help your vocabulary and grammar, but it helps your fluency and expression in essays and makes things like finding a voice that, at the same time, is both creative in that you have to make a new identity for yourself, but still convey the same information that a normal essay would present, or use techniques to persuade an audience, much easier to grasp and handle. I attribute my good mark in English to my writing/reading more than my (lack of) studying.

Also, good luck with mid year exams!


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